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diff --git a/3846.txt b/3846.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4f67319 --- /dev/null +++ b/3846.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9675 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, Complete +by Jean Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, Complete + +Author: Jean Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz + +Release Date: September 29, 2006 [EBook #3846] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CARDINAL DE RETZ *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +MEMOIRS OF JEAN FRANCOIS PAUL de GONDI, +CARDINAL DE RETZ + +Written by Himself + +Being Historic Court Memoirs of the Great Events +during the Minority of Louis XIV. +and the Administration of Cardinal Mazarin. + + + +CONTENTS + +BOOK I. + +BOOK II. + +BOOK III. + +BOOK IV. + +BOOK V. + + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS +Cardinal de Retz----Photogravure from an Old Painting + +Turenne----Photogravure from an Old Painting + +Richelieu----Engraving by Lubin + +Anne of Austria----Original Etching by Mercier + +Louis XIII----Painting in the Louvre + +Conde'----Painting in Versailles Gallery + + + + +ORIGINAL PREFACE. + + +Our Author, John Francis Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz, Sovereign of +Commercy, Prince of Euville, second Archbishop of Paris, Abbot of Saint +Denis in France, was born at Montmirail, in Brie, in October, 1614. + +His father was Philippe Emanuel de Gondi, Comte, de Joigni, General of +the Galleys of France and Knight of the King's Orders; and his mother was +Frances Marguerite, daughter of the Comte de Rochepot, Knight of the +King's Orders, and of Marie de Lannoy, sovereign of Commercy and Euville. + +Pierre de Gondi, Duc de Retz, was his brother, whose daughter was the +Duchesse de Lesdiguieres. + +His grandfather was Albert de Gondi, Duc de Retz, Marquis de Belle Isle, +a Peer of France, Marshal and General of the Galleys, Colonel of the +French Horse, First Gentleman of the Bedchamber, and Great Chamberlain to +the Kings Charles IX. and Henri III. + +This history was first printed in Paris in 1705, at the expense of the +Duchesse de Lesdiguieres, the last of this noble family, whose estate +fell after her decease to that of Villeroy. + +His preceptor was the famous Vincent de Paul, Almoner to Queen Anne of +Austria. + +In 1627 he was made a Canon of the Cathedral of Paris by his uncle, Jean +Francois de Gondi, first archbishop of that city, and was not long after +created a Doctor of the Sorbonne. + +In 1643 he was appointed Coadjutor of the archbishopric of Paris, with +the title of Archbishop of Corinth, during which, such was his pastoral +vigilance that the most important affairs of the Church were committed to +his care. + +As to his general character, if we take it from his own Memoirs, he had +such presence of mind, and so dexterously improved all opportunities +which fortune presented to him, that it seemed as if he had foreseen or +desired them. He knew how to put a good gloss upon his failings, and +oftentimes verily believed he was really the man which he affected to be +only in appearance. He was a man of bright parts, but no conduct, being +violent and inconstant in his intrigues of love as well as those of +politics, and so indiscreet as to boast of his successful amours with +certain ladies whom he ought not to have named. He affected pomp and +splendour, though his profession demanded simplicity and humility. He +was continually shifting parties, being a loyal subject one day and the +next a rebel, one time a sworn enemy to the Prime Minister, and by and by +his zealous friend; always aiming to make himself formidable or +necessary. As a pastor he had engrossed the love and confidence of the +people, and as a statesman he artfully played them off against their +sovereign. He studied characters thoroughly, and no man painted them in +truer colours more to his own purpose. Sometimes he confesses his +weaknesses, and at other times betrays his self-flattery. + +It being his fate to be imprisoned by Mazarin, first at Vincennes and +then at Nantes, he made his escape to Rome, and in 1656 retired to +Franche Comte, where Cardinal Mazarin gave orders for his being arrested; +upon which he posted to Switzerland, and thence to Constance, Strasburg, +Ulm, Augsburg, Frankfort, and Cologne, to which latter place Mazarin sent +men to take him dead or alive; whereupon he retired to Holland, and made +a trip from one town to another till 1661, when, Cardinal Mazarin dying, +our Cardinal went as far as Valenciennes on his way to Paris, but was not +suffered to come further; for the King and Queen-mother would not be +satisfied without his resignation of the archbishopric of Paris, to which +he at last submitted upon advantageous terms for himself and an amnesty +for all his adherents. But still the Court carried it so severely to the +Cardinal that they would not let him go and pay his last devoirs to his +father when on his dying bed. At length, however, after abundance of +solicitation, he had leave to go and wait upon the King and Queen, who, +on the death of Pope Alexander VII., sent him to Rome to assist at the +election of his successor. + +No wonder that King Charles II. of England promised to intercede for the +Cardinal's reestablishment; for when the royal family were starving, as +it were, in their exile at Paris, De Retz did more for them than all the +French Court put together; and, upon the King's promise to take the Roman +Catholics of England under his protection after his restoration, he sent +an abbot to Rome to solicit the Pope to lend him money, and to dispose +the English Catholics in his favour. + +He would fain have returned his hat to the new Pope, but his Holiness, at +the solicitation of Louis XIV., ordered him to keep it. After this he +chose a total retirement, lived with exemplary piety, considerably +retrenched his expenses, and hardly allowed himself common necessaries, +in order to save money to pay off a debt of three millions, which he had +the happiness to discharge, and to balance all accounts with the world +before his death, which happened at Paris on the 24th of August, 1679, in +the 65th year of his age. + + + + + + + +HISTORIC COURT MEMOIRS. + + +CARDINAL DE RETZ. + + + + +BOOK I. + + +MADAME:--Though I have a natural aversion to give you the history of my +own life, which has been chequered with such a variety of different +adventures, yet I had rather sacrifice my reputation to the commands of a +lady for whom I have so peculiar a regard than not disclose the most +secret springs of my actions and the inmost recesses of my soul. + +By the caprice of fortune many mistakes of mine have turned to my credit, +and I very much doubt whether it would be prudent in me to remove the +veil with which some of them are covered. But as I am resolved to give +you a naked, impartial account of even the most minute passages of my +life ever since I have been capable of reflection, so I most humbly beg +you not to be surprised at the little art, or, rather, great disorder, +with which I write my narrative, but to consider that, though the +diversity of incidents may sometimes break the thread of the history, yet +I will tell you nothing but with all that sincerity which the regard I +have for you demands. And to convince you further that I will neither +add to nor diminish from the plain truth, I shall set my name in the +front of the work. + +False glory and false modesty are the two rocks on which men who have +written their own lives have generally split, but which Thuanus among the +moderns and Caesar among the ancients happily escaped. I doubt not you +will do me the justice to believe that I do not pretend to compare myself +with those great writers in any respect but sincerity,--a virtue in which +we are not only permitted, but commanded, to rival the greatest heroes. + +I am descended from a family illustrious in France and ancient in Italy, +and born upon a day remarkable for the taking of a monstrous sturgeon in +a small river that runs through the country of Montmirail, in Brie, the +place of my nativity. + +I am not so vain as to be proud of having it thought that I was ushered +into the world with a prodigy or a miracle, and I should never have +mentioned this trifling circumstance had it not been for some libels +since published by my enemies, wherein they affect to make the said +sturgeon a presage of the future commotions in this kingdom, and me the +chief author of them. + +I beg leave to make a short reflection on the nature of the mind of man. +I believe there never was a more honest soul in the world than my +father's; I might say his temper was the very essence of virtue. For +though he saw I was too much inclined to duels and gallantry ever to make +a figure as an ecclesiastic, yet his great love for his eldest son--not +the view of the archbishopric of Paris, which was then in his +family--made him resolve to devote me to the service of the Church. For +he was so conscious of his reasons, that I could even swear he would have +protested from the very bottom of his heart that he had no other motive +than the apprehension of the dangers to which a contrary profession might +expose my soul. So true it is that nothing is so subject to delusion as +piety: all sorts of errors creep in and hide themselves under that veil; +it gives a sanction to all the turns of imagination, and the honesty of +the intention is not sufficient to guard against it. In a word, after +all I have told you, I turned priest, though it would have been long +enough first had it not been for the following accident. + +The Duc de Retz, head of our family, broke at that time, by the King's +order, the marriage treaty concluded some years before between the Duc de +Mercoeur--[Louis, Duc de Mercoeur, since Cardinal de Vendome, father of +the Duc de Vendome, and Grand Prior, died 1669.]--and his daughter, and +next day came to my father and agreeably surprised him by telling him he +was resolved to give her to his cousin to reunite the family. + +As I knew she had a sister worth above 80,000 livres a year, I, that very +instant, thought of a double match. I had no hopes they would think of +me, knowing how things stood, so I was resolved to provide for myself. + +Having got a hint that my father did not intend to carry me to the +wedding, as, foreseeing, it may be, what happened, I pretended to be +better pleased with my profession, to be touched by what my father had so +often laid before me on that subject, and I acted my part so well that +they believed I was quite another man. + +My father resolved to carry me into Brittany, for the reason that I had +shown no inclination that way. We found Mademoiselle de Retz at +Beaupreau, in Anjou. I looked on the eldest only as my sister, but +immediately considered Mademoiselle de Scepaux (so the youngest was +called) as my mistress. + +I thought her very handsome, her complexion the most charming in the +world, lilies and roses in abundance, admirable eyes, a very pretty +mouth, and what she wanted in stature was abundantly made up by the +prospect of 80,000 livres a year and of the Duchy of Beaupreau, and by a +thousand chimeras which I formed on these real foundations. + +I played my game nicely from the beginning, and acted the ecclesiastic +and the devotee both in the journey and during my stay there; +nevertheless, I paid my sighs to the fair one,--she perceived it. I spoke +at last, and she heard me, but not with that complacency which I could +have wished. + +But observing she had a great kindness for an old chambermaid, sister to +one of my monks of Buzai, I did all I could to gain her, and by the means +of a hundred pistoles down, and vast promises, I succeeded. She made her +mistress believe that she was designed for a nunnery, and I, for my part, +told her that I was doomed to nothing less than a monastery. She could +not endure her sister, because she was her father's darling, and I was +not overfond of my brother,--[Pierre de Gondi, Duc de Retz, who died in +1676.]--for the same reason. This resemblance in our fortunes +contributed much to the uniting of our affections, which I persuaded +myself were reciprocal, and I resolved to carry her to Holland. + +Indeed, there was nothing more easy, for Machecoul, whither we were come +from Beaupreau, was no more than half a league from the sea. But money +was the only thing wanting, for my treasury, was so drained by the gift +of the hundred pistoles above mentioned that I had not a sou left. But I +found a supply by telling my father that, as the farming of my abbeys was +taxed with the utmost rigour of the law, so I thought myself obliged in +conscience to take the administration of them into my own hands. This +proposal, though not pleasing, could not be rejected, both because it was +regular and because it made him in some measure believe that I would not +fail to keep my benefices, since I was willing to take care of them. I +went the next day to let Buzai,--[One of his abbeys.]--which is but five +leagues from Machecoul. I treated with a Nantes merchant, whose name was +Jucatieres, who took advantage of my eagerness, and for 4,000 crowns +ready money got a bargain that made his fortune. I thought I had +4,000,000, and was just securing one of the Dutch pinks, which are always +in the road of Retz, when the following accident happened, which broke +all my measures. + +Mademoiselle de Retz (for she had taken that name after her sister's +marriage) had the finest eyes in the world, and they never were so +beautiful as when she was languishing in love, the charms of which I +never yet saw equalled. We happened to dine at a lady's house, a league +from Machecoul, where Mademoiselle de Retz, looking in the glass at an +assembly of ladies, displayed all those tender, lively, moving airs which +the Italians call 'morbidezza', or the lover's languish. But +unfortunately she was not aware that Palluau, since Marechal de +Clerambaut, was behind her, who observed her airs, and being very much +attached to Madame de Retz, with whom he had in her tender years been +very familiar, told her faithfully what he had observed. + +Madame de Retz, who mortally hated her sister, disclosed it that very +night to her father, who did not fail to impart it to mine. The next +morning, at the arrival of the post from Paris, all was in a hurry, my +father pretending to have received very pressing news; and, after our +taking a slight though public leave of the ladies, my father carried me +to sleep that night at Nantes. I was, as you may imagine, under very +great surprise and concern; for I could not guess the cause of this +sudden departure. I had nothing to reproach myself with upon the score +of my conduct; neither had I the least suspicion that Palluau had seen +anything more than ordinary till I arrived at Orleans, where the matter +was cleared up, for my brother, to prevent my escape, which I vainly +attempted several times on my journey, seized my strong box, in which was +my money, and then I understood that I was betrayed; in what grief, then, +I arrived at Paris, I leave you to imagine. + +I found there Equilli, Vasse's uncle, and my first cousin, who, I +daresay, was one of the most honest men of his time, and loved me from +his very soul. I apprised him of my design to run away with Mademoiselle +de Retz. He heartily approved of my project, not only because it would +be a very advantageous match for me, but because he was persuaded that a +double alliance was necessary to secure the establishment of the family. + +The Cardinal de Richelieu--[Armand Jean du Plesais, Cardinal de +Richelieu, was born in 1585, and died in 1642.]--(then Prime Minister) +mortally hated the Princesse de Guemenee, because he was persuaded she +had crossed his amours with the Queen,--[Anne of Austria, eldest daughter +of Philip II., King of Spain, and wife of Louis XIII., died 1666.]--and +had a hand in the trick played him by Madame du Fargis, one of the +Queen's dressing women, who showed her Majesty (Marie de Medicis) a +love-letter written by his Eminence to the Queen, her daughter-in-law. +The Cardinal pushed his resentment so far that he attempted to force the +Marechal de Breze, his brother-in-law, and captain of the King's +Life-guards, to expose Madame de Guemenee's letters, which were found in +M. de Montmorency's--[Henri de Montmorency was apprehended on the 1st of +September, 1632, and beheaded in Toulouse in November of the same +year.]--coffer when he was arrested at Chateau Naudari. But the Marechal +de Breze had so much honour and generosity as to return them to Madame de +Guemenee. He was, nevertheless, a very extravagant gentleman; but the +Cardinal de Richelieu, perceiving he had been formerly honoured by some +kind of relation to him, and dreading his angry excursions and +preachments before the King, who had some consideration for his person, +bore with him very patiently for the sake of settling peace in his own +family, which he passionately longed to unite and establish, but which +was the only thing out of his power, who could do whatever else he +pleased in France. For the Marechal de Breze had conceived so strong an +aversion to M. de La Meilleraye, who was then Grand Master of the +Artillery, and afterwards Marechal de La Meilleraye, that he could not +endure him. He did not imagine that the Cardinal would ever look upon a +man who, though his first cousin, was of a mean extraction, had a most +contemptible aspect, and, if fame says true, not one extraordinary good +quality. + +The Cardinal was of another mind, and had a great opinion--indeed, with +abundance of reason--of M. de La Meilleraye's courage; but he esteemed +his military capacity infinitely too much, though in truth it was not +contemptible. In a word, he designed him for that post which we have +since seen so gloriously filled by M. de Turenne. + +You may, by what has been said, judge of the divisions that were in +Cardinal de Richelieu's family, and how much he was concerned to appease +them. He laboured at them with great application, and for this end +thought he could not do better than to unite these two heads of the +faction in a close confidence with himself, exclusive of all others. To +this end he used them jointly and in common as the confidants of his +amours, which certainly were neither suitable to the lustre of his +actions nor the grandeur of his life; for Marion de Lorme, one of his +mistresses, was little better than a common prostitute. Another of his +concubines was Madame de Fruges, that old gentlewoman who was so often +seen sauntering in the enclosure. The first used to come to his +apartment in the daytime, and he went by night to visit the other, who +was but the pitiful cast-off of Buckingham and Epienne. The two +confidants introduced him there in coloured clothes; for they had made up +a hasty peace, to which Madame de Guemenee nearly fell a sacrifice. + +M. de La Meilleraye, whom they called the Grand Master, was in love with +Madame de Guemenee, but she could not love him; and he being, both in his +own nature and by reason of his great favour with the Cardinal, the most +imperious man living, took it very ill that he was not beloved. He +complained, but the lady was insensible; he huffed and bounced, but was +laughed to scorn. He thought he had her in his power because the +Cardinal, to whom he had declared his rage against her, had given him her +letters, as above mentioned, which were written to M. de Montmorency, +and, therefore, in his menaces he let fall some hints with relation to +those letters to the disadvantage of Madame de Guemenee. She thereupon +ridiculed him no longer, but went almost raving mad, and fell into such +an inconceivable melancholy that you would not have known her, and +retired to Couperai, where she would let nobody see her. + +As soon as I applied my mind to study I resolved at the same time to take +the Cardinal de Richelieu for my pattern, though my friends opposed it as +too pedantic; but I followed my first designs, and began my course with +good success. I was afterwards followed by all persons of quality of the +same profession; but, as I was the first, the Cardinal was pleased with +my fancy, which, together with the good offices done me by the Grand +Master with the Cardinal, made him speak well of me on several occasions, +wonder that I had never made my court to him, and at the same time he +ordered M. de Lingendes, since Bishop of Magon, to bring me to his house. + +This was the source of my first disgrace, for, instead of complying with +these offers of the Cardinal and with the entreaties of the Grand Master, +urging me to go and make my court to him, I returned the most trifling +excuses and apologies; one time I pretended to be sick and went into the +country. In short, I did enough to let them see that I did not care to +be a dependent on the Cardinal de Richelieu, who was certainly a very +great man, but had this particular trait in his genius,--to take notice +of trifles. Of this he gave me the following instance: The history of +the conspiracy of Jean Louis de Fiesque,--[Author of "The Conspiracy of +Genoa." He was drowned on the 1st of January, 1557.]--which I had +written at eighteen years of age, being conveyed by Boisrobert into the +Cardinal's hands, he was heard to say, in the presence of Marechal +d'Estrees and M. de Senneterre, "This is a dangerous genius." This was +told my father that very night by M. de Senneterre, and I took it as +spoken to myself. + +The success that I had in the acts of the Sorbonne made me fond of that +sort of reputation, which I had a mind to push further, and thought I +might succeed in sermons. Instead of preaching first, as I was advised, +in the little convents, I preached on Ascension, Corpus Christi Day, +etc., before the Queen and the whole Court, which assurance gained me a +good character from the Cardinal; for, when he was told how well I had +performed, he said, "There is no judging of things by the event; the man +is a coxcomb." Thus you see I had enough to do for one of two-and-twenty +years of age. + +M. le Comte,--[Louis de Bourbon, Comte de soissons, killed in the battle +of Marfee, near Sedan, in 1641.]--who had a tender love for me, and to +whose service and person I was entirely devoted, left Paris in the night, +in order to get into Sedan, for fear of an arrest; and, in the meantime, +entrusted me with the care of Vanbrock, the greatest confidant he had in +the world. I took care, as I was ordered, that he should never stir out +but at night, for in the daytime I concealed him in a private place, +between the ceiling and the penthouse, where I thought it impossible for +anything but a cat or the devil to find him. But he was not careful +enough of himself, for one morning my door was burst open, and armed men +rushed into my chamber, with the provost at their head, who cried, with a +great oath, "Where is Vanbrock?" I replied, "At Sedan, monsieur, I +believe." He swore again most confoundedly, and searched the mattresses +of all the beds in the house, threatening to put my domestics to the rack +if they did not make a disclosure; but there was only one that knew +anything of the matter, and so they went away in a rage. You may easily +imagine that when this was reported the Court would highly resent it. And +so it happened, for the license of the Sorbonne being expired, and the +competitors striving for the best places, I had the ambition to put in +for the first place, and did not think myself obliged to yield to the +Abbe de La Mothe-Houdancourt, now Archbishop of Auch, over whom I had +certainly some advantage in the disputations. I carried myself in this +affair more wisely than might have been expected from my youth; for as +soon as I heard that my rival was supported by the Cardinal, who did him +the honour to own him for his kinsman, I sent the Cardinal word, by M. de +Raconis, Bishop of Lavaur, that I desisted from my pretension, out of the +respect I owed his Eminence, as soon as I heard that he concerned himself +in the affair. The Bishop of Lavaur told me the Cardinal pretended that +the Abby de La Mothe would not be obliged for the first place to my +cession, but to his own merit. This answer exasperated me. I gave a +smile and a low bow, pursued my point, and gained the first place by +eighty-four voices. The Cardinal, who was for domineering in all places +and in all affairs, fell into a passion much below his character, either +as a minister or a man, threatened the deputies of the Sorbonne to raze +the new buildings he had begun there, and assailed my character again +with incredible bitterness. + +All my friends were alarmed at this, and were for sending me in all haste +to Italy. Accordingly, I went to Venice, stayed there till the middle of +August, and was very near being assassinated; for I amused myself by +making an intrigue with Signora Vendranina, a noble Venetian lady, and +one of the most handsome I ever saw. M. de Maille, the King's +ambassador, aware of the dangerous consequences of such adventures in +this country, ordered me to depart from Venice; upon which I went through +Lombardy, and towards the end of September arrived at Rome, where the +Marechal d'Estrees, who resided there as ambassador, gave me such +instructions for my behaviour as I followed to a tittle. Though I had no +design to be an ecclesiastic, yet since I wore a cassock I was resolved +to acquire some reputation at the Pope's Court. I compassed my design +very happily, avoiding any appearance of gallantry and lewdness, and my +dress being grave to the last degree; but for all this I was at a vast +expense, having fine liveries, a very splendid equipage, and a train of +seven or eight gentlemen, whereof four were Knights of Malta. I disputed +in the Colleges of Sapienza (not to be compared for learning with those +of the Sorbonne), and fortune continued still to raise me. For the +Prince de Schomberg, the Emperor's ambassador, sent me word one day, +while I was playing at 'balon' at the baths of Antoninus, to leave the +place clear for him. I answered that I could have refused his Excellency +nothing asked in a civil manner, but since it was commanded, I would have +him to know that I would obey the orders of no ambassador whatever, but +that of the King, my master. Being urged a second time by one of his +attendants to leave the place, I stood upon my own defence, and the +Germans, more, in my opinion, out of contempt of the few people I had +with me than out of any other consideration, let the affair drop. This +bold carriage of so modest an abbe, to an ambassador who never went +abroad without one hundred musketeers on horseback to attend him, made a +great noise in Rome, and was much taken notice of by Cardinal Mazarin. + +The Cardinal de Richelieu's health declining, the archbishopric of Paris +was now almost within my ken, which, together with other prospects of +good benefices, made me resolve not to fling off the cassock but upon +honourable terms and valuable considerations; but having nothing yet +within my view that I could be sure of, I resolved to distinguish myself +in my own profession by all the methods I could. I retired from the +world, studied very hard, saw but very few men, and had no more +correspondence with any of the female sex, except Madame de -------. + +The devil had appeared to the Princesse de Guemenee just a fortnight +before this adventure happened, and was often raised by the conjurations +of M. d'Andilly, to frighten his votary, I believe, into piety, for he +was even more in love with her person than I myself; but he loved her in +the Lord, purely and spiritually. I raised, in my turn, a demon that +appeared to her in a more kind and agreeable form. In six weeks I got +her away from Port Royal; I was very diligent in paying her my respects, +and the satisfaction I had in her company, with some other agreeable +diversions, qualified in a great measure the chagrin which attended my +profession, to which I was not yet heartily reconciled. This enchantment +had like to have raised such a storm as would have given a new face to +the affairs of Europe if fortune had been ever so little on my side. + +M. the Cardinal de Richelieu loved rallying other people, but could not +bear a jest himself, and all men of this humour are always very crabbed +and churlish; of which the Cardinal gave an instance, in a public +assembly of ladies, to Madame de Guemenee, when he threw out a severe +jest, which everybody observed was pointed at me. She was sensibly +affronted, but I was enraged. For at last there was a sort of an +understanding between us, which was often ill-managed, yet our interests +were inseparable. At this time Madame de La Meilleraye, with whom, +though she was silly, I had fallen in love, pleased the Cardinal to that +degree that the Marshal perceived it before he set out for the army, and +rallied his wife in such a manner that she immediately found he was even +more jealous than ambitious. She was terribly afraid of him, and did not +love the Cardinal, who, by marrying her to his cousin, had lessened his +own family, of which he was extremely fond. Besides, the Cardinal's +infirmities made him look a great deal older than he was. And though all +his other actions had no tincture of pedantry, yet in his amorous +intrigues he had the most of it in the world. I had a detail of all the +steps he had made therein, which were extremely ridiculous. But +continuing his solicitation, and carrying her to his country seat at +Ruel,--[The Cardinal de Richelieu's seat, three leagues from +Paris.]--where he kept her a considerable time, I guessed that the lady +had not brains enough to resist the splendour of Court favour, and that +her husband's jealousy would soon give way to his interest, but, above +all, to his blind side, which was an attachment to the Court not to be +equalled. When I was in the hottest pursuit of this passion I proposed +to myself the most exquisite pleasures in triumphing over the Cardinal de +Richelieu in this fair field of battle; but on a sudden I had the +mortification to hear the whole family was changed. The husband allowed +his wife to go to Ruel as often as she pleased, and her behaviour towards +me I suspected to be false and treacherous. In short, Madame de +Guemenee's anger, for a reason I hinted before, my jealousy of Madame de +La Meilleraye, and an aversion to my own profession, all joined together +in a fatal moment and were near producing one of the greatest and most +famous events of our age. + +La Rochepot, my first cousin and dear friend, was a domestic of the late +Duc d'Orleans,--[Gaston Jean Baptists de France, born 1608, and died at +Blois, 1660.]--and his great confidant. He mortally hated the Cardinal +de Richelieu, who had persecuted his mother, and had her hung up in +effigy, and kept his father still a prisoner in the Bastille, and now +refused the son a regiment, though Marechal de La Meilleraye, who very +highly esteemed him for his courage, interceded for the favour. You may +imagine that when we came together we did not forget the Cardinal. + +I being crossed in my designs, as I told you, and as full of resentment +as La Rochepot was for the affronts put upon his person and family, we +chimed in our thoughts and resolutions, which were, dexterously to manage +the weakness of the Duc d'Orleans and to put that in execution which the +boldness of his domestics had almost effected at Corbie. + +The Duc d'Orleans was appointed General, and the Comte de Soissons +Lieutenant-General of the King's forces in Picardy, but neither of them +stood well with the Cardinal, who gave them those posts only because the +situation of affairs was such that he could not help it. L'Epinai, +Montresor, and La Rochepot made use of all the arguments they could think +of to raise jealousies and fears in the Duc d'Orleans, and to inspire him +with resolution and courage to rid himself of the Cardinal. Others +laboured to persuade the Comte de Soissons to relish the same proposal, +but though resolved upon, it was never put into execution. For they had +the Cardinal in their power at Amiens, but did him no harm. For this +every one blamed the Count's companion, but I could never yet learn the +true cause; only this is certain, that they were no sooner come to Paris +than they were all seized with a panic, and retired, some one way, some +another. + +The Comte de Guiche, since Marechal de Grammont, and M. de Chavigni, +Secretary of State and the Cardinal's most intimate favourite, were sent +by the King to Blois. Here they frightened the Duc d'Orleans and made +him return to Paris, where he was more afraid than ever; for such of his +domestics as were not gained by the Court made use of his pusillanimous +temper, and represented to him the necessity he was under to provide for +his own, or rather their, security. La Rochepot and myself endeavoured +to heighten his fears as much as possible, in order to precipitate him +into our measures. The term sounds odd, but it is the most expressive I +could find of a character like the Duke's. He weighed everything, but +fixed on nothing; and if by chance he was inclined to do one thing more +than another, he would never execute it without being pushed or forced +into it. + +La Rochepot did all he could to fix him, but finding that the Duke was +always for delays, and for perplexing all expedients with groundless +fears of invincible difficulties, he fell upon an expedient very +dangerous to all appearance, but, as it usually happens in extraordinary +cases, much less so than at first view. + +Cardinal de Richelieu having to stand godfather at the baptism of +Mademoiselle, La Rochepot's proposal was to continue to show the Duke the +necessity he lay under still to get rid of the Cardinal, without saying +much of the particulars, for fear of hazarding the secret, but only to +entertain him with the general proposal of that affair, thereby to make +him the better in love with the measures when proposed; and that they +might, at a proper time and place, tell him they had concealed the detail +to the execution from his Highness upon no other account but that they +had experienced on several occasions that there was no other way of +serving his Highness, as he himself had told La Rochepot several times; +that nothing, therefore, remained but to get some brave fellows fit for +such a resolute enterprise, and to hold post-horses ready upon the road +of Sedan under some other pretext, and to so execute the design in the +presence and in the name of his Royal Highness upon the day of the +intended solemnity, that his Highness should cheerfully own it when it +was done, and that then we would carry him off by those horses to Sedan. +Meanwhile the distraction of the inferior ministers and the joy of the +King to see himself delivered from a tyrant would dispose the Court +rather to invite than to pursue him. This was La Rochepot's scheme, and +it seemed exceedingly plausible. + +La Rochepot and I had, it may be, blamed the inactivity of the Duc +d'Orleans and the Comte de Soissons in the affair of Amiens a hundred +times; yet, no sooner was the scheme sufficiently matured for execution, +the idea of which I had raised in the memory of La Rochepot, than my mind +was seized with I know not what fear; I took it then for a scruple of +conscience,--I cannot tell whether it was in truth so or not, but, in +short, the thought of killing a priest and a cardinal deeply affected my +mind. La Rochepot laughed at my scruples, and bantered me thus: "When +you are in the field of battle I warrant you will not beat up the enemy's +quarters for fear of assassinating men in their sleep." I was ashamed of +my scruples, and again hugged the crime, which I looked upon as +sanctified by the examples of great men, and justified and honoured by +the mighty danger that attended its execution. We renewed our +consultations, engaged some accomplices, took all the necessary +precautions, and resolved upon the execution. The danger was indeed very +great, but we might reasonably hope to come off well enough; for the +Duke's guard, which was within, would not have failed to come to our +assistance against that of the Cardinal's, which was without. But his +fortune, and not his guards, delivered him from the snare; for either +Mademoiselle or himself, I forget which, fell suddenly ill, and the +ceremony was put off to another time, so that we lost our opportunity. +The Duke returned to Blois, and the Marquis de Boissi protested he would +never betray us, but that he would be no longer concerned, because he had +just received some favour or other from the Cardinal's own hands. + +I confess that this enterprise, which, had it succeeded, would have +crowned us with glory, never fully pleased me. I was not so scrupulous +in the committing of two other transgressions against the rules of +morality, as you may have before observed; but I wish, with all my heart, +I had never been concerned in this. Ancient Rome, indeed, would have +counted it honourable; but it is not in this respect that I honour the +memory of old Rome. + +There is commonly a great deal of folly in conspiracies; but afterwards +there is nothing tends so, much to make men wise, at least for some time. +For, as the danger in things of this nature continues, even after the +opportunities for doing them are over, men are from that instant more +prudent and circumspect. + +Having thus missed our blow, the Comte de La Rochepot and the rest of +them retired to their several seats in the country; but my engagements +detained me at Paris, where I was so retired that I spent all my time in +my study; and if ever I was seen abroad, it was with all the reserve of a +pious ecclesiastic; we were all so true to one another in keeping this +adventure secret, that it never got the least wind while the Cardinal +lived, who was a minister that had the best intelligence in the world; +but after his death it was discovered by the imprudence of Tret and +Etourville. I call it imprudence, for what greater weakness can men be +guilty of than to declare themselves to have been capable of what is +dangerous in the first instance? + +To return to the history of the Comte de Soissons, I observed before that +he had retired to Sedan for safety, which he could not expect at Court. +He wrote to the King, assuring his Majesty of his fidelity, and that +while he stayed in that place he would undertake nothing prejudicial to +his service. He was most mindful of his promise; was not to be biassed +by all the offers of Spain or the Empire, but rejected with indignation +the overtures of Saint-Ibal and of Bardouville, who would have persuaded +him to take up arms. Campion, one of his domestics, whom he had left at +Paris to mind his affairs at Court, told me these particulars by the +Count's express orders, and I still remember this passage in one of his +letters to Campion: "The men you know are very urgent with me to treat +with the enemy, and accuse me of weakness because I fear the examples of +Charles de Bourbon and Robert d'Artois." He was ordered to show me this +letter and desire my opinion thereupon. I took my pen, and, at a little +distance from the answer he had already begun, I wrote these words: + +"And I do accuse them of folly." The reasons upon which my opinion was +grounded were these: The Count was courageous in the highest degree of +what is commonly called valour, and had a more than ordinary share in +that boldness of mind which we call resolution. The first is common and +to be frequently met with among the vulgar, but the second is rarer than +can be imagined, and yet abundantly more necessary for great enterprises; +and is there a greater in the world than heading a party? The command of +an army is without comparison of less intricacy, for there are wheels +within wheels necessary for governing the State, but then they are not +near so brittle and delicate. In a word, I am of opinion there are +greater qualities necessary to make a good head of a party than to make +an emperor who is to govern the whole world, and that resolution ought to +run parallel with judgment,--I say, with heroic judgment, which is able +to distinguish the extraordinary from what we call the impossible. + +The Count had not one grain of this discerning faculty, which is but +seldom to be met with in the sublimest genius. His character was mean to +a degree, and consequently susceptible of unreasonable jealousies and +distrusts, which of all characters is the most opposite to that of a good +partisan, who is indispensably obliged in many cases to suppress, and in +all to conceal, the best-grounded suspicions. + +This was the reason I could not be of the opinion of those who were for +engaging the Count in a civil war; and Varicarville, who was the man of +the best sense and temper of all the persons of quality he had about him, +told me since that when he saw what I wrote in Campion's letter the day I +set out for Italy, he very well knew by what motives I was, against my +inclination, persuaded into this opinion. + +The Count held out all this year and the next against every solicitation +of the Spaniards and the importunities of his own friends, much more by +the wise counsels of Varicarville than by the force of his own +resolution; but nothing could secure him from the teasings of the +Cardinal de Richelieu, who poured into his ears every day in the King's +name his many dismal discoveries and prognostications. For fear of being +tedious I shall only tell you in one word that the Cardinal, contrary to +his own interest, hurried the Count into a civil war, by such arts of +chicanery as those who are fortune's favourites never fail to play upon +the unfortunate. + +The minds of people began now to be more embittered than ever. I was +sent for by the Count to Sedan to tell him the state of Paris. The +account I gave him could not but be very agreeable; for I told him the +very truth: that he was universally beloved, honoured, and adored in that +city, and his enemy dreaded and abhorred. The Duc de Bouillon, who was +urgent for war, be the consequence what it would, improved upon these +advantages, and made them look more plausible, but Varicarville strongly +opposed him. + +I thought myself too young to declare my opinion; but, being pressed to +do so by his Highness, I took the liberty to tell him that a Prince of +the blood ought to engage himself in a civil war rather than suffer any +diminution of his reputation or dignity, yet that nothing but these two +cases could justly oblige him to it, because he hazards both by a +commotion whenever the one or the other consideration does not make it +necessary; that I thought his Highness far from being under any such +necessity; that his retreat to Sedan secured him from the indignity he +must have submitted to, among others, of taking the left hand, even in +the Cardinal's own house; that, in the meantime, the popular hatred of +the Cardinal gained his Highness the greater share of the public favour, +which is always much better secured by inaction than action, because the +glory of action depends upon success, for which no one can answer; +whereas inaction is sure to be commended as being founded upon the hatred +which the public will always bear to the minister. That, therefore, I +should think it would be more glorious for his Highness, in the view of +the world, to support himself by his own weight, that is, by the merit of +his virtue, against the artifices of so powerful a minister as the +Cardinal de Richelieu,--I say, more glorious to support himself by a wise +and regular conduct than to kindle the fire of war, the flagrant +consequences whereof no man is able to foresee; that it was true that the +minister was universally cursed, but that I could not yet see that the +people's minds were exasperated enough for any considerable revolution; +that the Cardinal was in a declining state of health, and if he should +not die this time, his Highness would have the opportunity of showing the +King and the public that though, by his own personal authority and his +important post at Sedan, he was in a capacity to do himself justice, he +sacrificed his own resentments to the welfare and quiet of the State; and +that if the Cardinal should recover his health, he would not fail, by +additional acts of tyranny and oppression, to draw upon himself the +redoubled execrations of the people, which would ripen, their murmurings +and discontents into a universal revolution. + +This is the substance of what I said to the Count, and he seemed to be +somewhat affected by it. But the Duc de Bouillon was enraged, and told +me, by way of banter, "Your blood is very cold for a gentleman of your +age." To which I replied in these very words: "All the Count's servants +are so much obliged to you, monsieur, that they ought to bear everything +from you; but were it not for this consideration alone, I should think +that your bastions would not be always strong enough to protect you." The +Duke soon came to himself, and treated me with all the civilities +imaginable, such as laid a foundation for our future friendship. I stayed +two days longer at Sedan, during which the Count changed his mind five +different times, as I was told by M. Saint-Ibal, who said little was to +be expected from a man of his humour. At last, however, the Duc de +Bouillon won him over. I was charged to do all I could to convince the +people of Paris, had an order to take up money and to lay it out for this +purpose, and I returned from Sedan with letters more than enough to have +hanged two hundred men. + +As I had faithfully set the Count's true interest before him, and +dissuaded him from undertaking an affair of which he was by no means +capable, I thought it high time to think of my own affairs. I hated my +profession now more than ever; I was at first hurried into it by the +infatuation of my kindred. My destiny had bound me down to it by the +chains both of duty and pleasure, so that I could see no possibility to +set myself free. I was upwards of twenty-five years of age, and I saw it +was now too late to begin to carry a musket; but that which tortured me +most of all was this fatal reflection, that I had spent so much of my +time in too eager a pursuit of pleasure, and thereby riveted my own +chains; so that it looked as if fate was resolved to fasten me to the +Church, whether I would or no. You may imagine with what satisfaction +such thoughts as these were accompanied, for this confusion of affairs +gave me hopes of getting loose from my profession with uncommon honour +and reputation. I thought of ways to distinguish myself, pursued them +very diligently, and you will allow that nothing but destiny broke my +measures. + +The Marechaux de Vitri and Bassompierre, the Comte de Cremail, M. du +Fargis, and M. du Coudrai Montpensier were then prisoners in the Bastille +upon different counts. But, as length of time makes confinement less +irksome, they were treated very civilly, and indulged with a great share +of freedom. Their friends came to see them, and sometimes dined with +them. By means of M. du Fargis, who had married my aunt, I got +acquainted with the rest, and by conversing with them discovered very +remarkable emotions in some of them, upon which I could not help +reflecting. The Marechal de Vitri was a gentleman of mean parts, but +bold, even to rashness, and his having been formerly employed to kill the +Marechal d'Ancre had given him in the common vogue, though I think +unjustly, the air of a man of business and expedition. He appeared to me +enraged against the Cardinal, and I concluded he might do service in the +present juncture, but did not address myself directly to him, and thought +it the wisest way first to sift the Comte de Cremail, who was a man of +sound sense, and could influence the Marechal de Vitri as he pleased. He +apprehended me at half a word, and immediately asked me if I had made +myself known to any of the prisoners. I answered, readily: + +"No, monsieur; and I will tell you my reasons in a very few words. +Bassompierre is a tattler; I expect to do nothing with the Marechal de +Vitri but by your means. I suspect the honesty of Du Coudrai, and as for +my uncle, Du Fargis, he is a gallant man, but has no headpiece." + +"Whom, then, do you confide in at Paris?" said the Comte de Cremail. + +"I dare trust no man living," said I, "but yourself." + +"It is very well," said he, briskly; "you are the man for me. I am above +eighty years old, and you but twenty-five; I will qualify your heat, and +you my chilliness." + +We went upon business, drew up our plan, and at parting he said these +very words: "Let me alone one week, and after that I will tell you more +of my mind, for I hope to convince the Cardinal that I am good for +something more than writing the 'Jeu de l'Inconnu.'" + +You must know that the "Jeu de l'Inconnu" was a book, indeed, very ill +written, which the Comte de Cremail had formerly published, and which the +Cardinal had grossly ridiculed. You will be surprised, without doubt, +that I should think of prisoners for an affair of this importance, but +the nature of it was such that it could not be put into better hands, as +you will see by and by. + +A week after, going to visit the prisoners, and Cremail and myself being +accidentally left alone, we took a walk upon the terrace, where, after a +thousand thanks for the confidence I had put in him, and as many +protestations of his readiness to serve the Comte de Soissons, he spoke +thus: "There is nothing but the thrust of a sword or the city of Paris +that can rid us of the Cardinal. Had I been at the enterprise of Amiens, +I think I should not have missed my blow, as those gentlemen did. I am +for that of Paris; it cannot miscarry; I have considered it well. See +here what additions I have made to our plan." And thereupon he put into +my hand a paper, in substance as follows: that he had conferred with the +Marechal de Vitri, who was as well disposed as anybody in the world to +serve the Count; that they would both answer for the Bastille, where all +the garrison was in their interest; that they were likewise sure of the +arsenal; and that they would also declare themselves as soon as the Count +had gained a battle, on condition that I made it appear beforehand, as I +had told him (the Comte de Cremail), that they should be supported by a +considerable number of officers, colonels of Paris, etc. For the rest, +this paper contained many particular observations on the conduct of the +undertaking, and many cautions relating to the behaviour to be observed +by the Count. That which surprised me most of all was to see how fully +persuaded these gentlemen were of carrying their point with ease. + +Though it came into my head to propose this project to the persons in the +Bastille, yet nothing but the perfect knowledge I had of their +disposition and inclination could have persuaded me that it was +practicable. And I confess, upon perusal of the plan prepared by M. de +Cremail, a man of great experience and excellent sense, I was astonished +to find a few prisoners disposing of the Bastille with the same freedom +as the Governor, the greatest authority in the place. + +As all extraordinary circumstances are of wonderful weight in popular +revolutions, I considered that this project, which was even ripe for +execution, would have an admirable effect in the city. And as nothing +animates and supports commotions more than the ridiculing of those +against whom they are raised, I knew it would be very easy for us to +expose the conduct of a minister who had tamely suffered prisoners to +hamper him, as one may say, with their chains. I lost no time; +afterwards I opened myself to M. d'Estampes, President of the Great +Council, and to M. l'Ecuyer, President of the Chamber of Accounts, both +colonels, and in great repute among the citizens, and I found them every +way answering the character I had of them from the Count; that is, very +zealous for his interest, and fully persuaded that the insurrection was +not only practicable, but very easy. Pray observe that these two +gentlemen, who made no great figure, even in their own profession, were, +perhaps, two of the most peaceable persons in the kingdom. But there are +some fires which burn all before them. The main thing is to know and +seize the critical moment. + +The Count had charged me to disclose myself to none in Paris besides +these two, but I ventured to add two more: Parmentier, substitute to the +Attorney-General; and his brother-in-law, Epinai, auditor of the Chamber +of Accounts, who was the man of the greatest credit, though but a +lieutenant, and the other a captain. Parmentier, who, both by his wit +and courage, was as capable of a great action as any man I ever knew, +promised me that he would answer for Brigalier, councillor in the Court +of Aids, captain in his quarter, and very powerful among the people, but +told me at the same time that he must not know a word of the matter, +because he was a mere rattle, not to be trusted with a secret. + +The Count made me a remittance of 12,000 crowns, which I carried to my +aunt De Maignelai, telling her that it was a restitution made by one of +my dying friends, who made me trustee of it upon condition that I should +distribute it among decayed families who were ashamed to make their +necessities known, and that I had taken an oath to distribute it myself, +persuant to the desire of the testator, but that I was at a loss to find +out fit objects for my charity; and therefore I desired her to take the +care of it upon her. The good woman was perfectly transported, and said +she would do it with all her heart; but because I had sworn to make the +distribution myself, she insisted upon it that I must be present, not +only for the sake of my promise, but to accustom myself to do acts of +charity. This was the very thing I aimed at,--an opportunity of knowing +all the poor of Paris. Therefore I suffered myself to be carried every +day by my aunt into the outskirts, to visit the poor in their garrets, +and I met very often in her house people who were very well clad, and +many whom I once knew, that came for private charity. My good aunt +charged them always to pray to God for her nephew, who was the hand that +God had been pleased to make use of for this good work. Judge you of the +influence this gave me over the populace, who are without comparison the +most considerable in all public disturbances. For the rich never come +into such measures unless they are forced, and beggars do more harm than +good, because it is known that they aim at plunder; those, therefore, who +are capable of doing most service are such as are not reduced to common +beggary, yet so straitened in their circumstances as to wish for nothing +more than a general change of affairs in order to repair their broken +fortunes. I made myself acquainted with people of this rank for the +course of four months with uncommon application, so that there was hardly +a child in the chimney-corner but I gratified with some small token. I +called them by their familiar names. My aunt, who always made it her +business to go from house to house to relieve the poor, was a cloak for +all. I also played the hypocrite, and frequented the conferences of +Saint Lazarus. + +Varicarville and Beauregarde, my correspondents at Sedan, assured me that +the Comte de Soissons was as well inclined as one could wish, and that he +had not wavered since he had formed his last resolution. Varicarville +said that we had formerly done him horrible injustice, and that they were +now even obliged to restrain him, because he seemed to be too fond of the +counsels of Spain and the Empire. Please to observe that these two +Courts, which had made incredible solicitations to him while he wavered, +began, as soon as his purpose was fixed, to draw back,--a fatality due to +the phlegmatic temper of the Spaniard, dignified by the name of prudence, +joined to the astute politics of the house of Austria. You may observe +at the same time that the Count, who had continued firm and unshaken +three months together, changed his mind as soon as his enemies had +granted what he asked; which exactly comes up to the character of an +irresolute man, who is always most unsteady the nearer the work comes to +its conclusion. I heard of this convulsion, as one may call it, by an +express from Varicarville, and took post the same night for Sedan, +arriving there an hour after Aretonville, an agent despatched from the +Count's brother in-law, M. de Longueville.--[Henri d'Orleans, the second +of that name, died 1663.]--He came with some plausible but deceitful +terms of accommodation which we all agreed to oppose. Those who had been +always with the Count pressed him strongly with the remembrance of what +he himself thought or said was necessary to be done ever since the war +had been resolved on. Saint-Ibal, who had been negotiating for him at +Brussels, pressed him with his engagements, advances, and solicitations, +insisted on the steps I had, by his order, already taken in Paris, on the +promises made to De Vitri and Cremail, and on the secret committed to two +persons by his own command, and to four others for his service and with +his consent. Our arguments, considering his engagements, were very just +and clear. We carried our point with much ado after a conflict of four +days. Aretonville was sent back with a very smart answer. M. de Guise, +who had joined the Count, and was a well-wisher to a rupture, went to +Liege to order the levies, Varicarville and I returned to Paris, but I +did not care to tell my fellow conspirators of the irresolution of our +principal. Some symptoms of it appeared afterwards, but they very soon +vanished. + +Being assured that the Spaniards had everything in readiness, I went for +the last time to Sedan to take my final instructions. There I found +Meternic, colonel of one of the oldest regiments of the Empire, +despatched by General Lamboy, who had advanced with a gallant army under +his command, composed for the most part of veteran troops. The Colonel +assured the Count that he was ordered to obey his commands in everything, +and to give battle to the Marechal de Chatillon, who commanded the army +of France upon the Meuse. As the undertaking at Paris depended entirely +on the success of such a battle, the Count thought it fitting that I +should go along with Meternic to Givet, where I found the army in a very +good condition. Then I returned to Paris, and gave an account of every +particular to the Marechal de Pitri, who drew up the order for the +enterprise. The whole city of Paris seemed so disposed for an +insurrection that we thought ourselves sure of success. The secret was +kept even to a miracle. The Count gave the enemy battle and won it. You +now believe, without doubt, the day was our own. Far from it; for the +Count was killed in the very crisis of the victory, and in the midst of +his own men; but how and by whom no soul could ever tell. + +You may guess what a condition I was in when I heard this news; M. de +Cremail, the wisest of us all, thought of nothing else now but how to +conceal the secret, which, though known to only six in all Paris, was +known to too great a number; but the greatest danger of discovery was +from the people of Sedan, who, being out of the kingdom, were not afraid +of punishment. Nevertheless, everybody privy to it religiously kept it +secret, and stood their ground, which, with another accident I shall +mention hereafter, has made me often think, and say too, that secrecy is +not so rare a thing as we imagine with men versed in matters of State. + +The Count's death settled me in my profession, for I saw no great things +to be done, and I found myself too old to leave it for anything trifling. +Besides, Cardinal de Richelieu's health was declining, and I already +began to think myself Archbishop of Paris. I resolved that for the +future I would devote myself to my profession. Madame de Guemenee had +retired to Port Royal, her country-seat. M. d'Andilly had got her from +me. She neither powdered nor curled her hair any longer, and had +dismissed me solemnly with all the formalities required from a sincere +penitent. I discovered, by means of a valet de chambre, that, captain +---- of the Marshal's Guards, had as free access to Meilleraye's lady as +myself. See what it is to be a saint! The truth is, I grew much more +regular,--at least affected to be thought so,--led a retired life, stuck +to my profession, studied hard, and got acquainted with all who were +famous either for learning or piety. I converted my house almost into an +academy, but took care not to erect the academy into a rigid tribunal. I +began to be pretty free with the canons and curates, whom I found of +course at my uncle's house. I did not act the devotee, because I could +not be sure how long I should be able to play the counterfeit, but I had +a high esteem for devout people, which with such is the main article of +religion. I suited my pleasures to my practice, and, finding I could not +live without some amorous intrigue, I managed an amour with Madame de +Pommereux, a young coquette, who had so many sparks, not only in her +house but at her devotions, that the apparent business of others was a +cover for mine, which was, at least, some time afterwards, more to the +purpose. When I had succeeded, I became a man in such request among +those of my profession that the devotees themselves used to say of me +with M. Vincent, "Though I had not piety enough, yet I was not far from +the kingdom of heaven." + +Fortune favoured me more than usual at this time. I was at the house of +Madame de Rambure, a notable and learned Huguenot, where I met with +Mestrezat, the famous minister of Charento. To satisfy her curiosity she +engaged us in a dispute; we had nine different disputations. The +Marechal de la Forde and M. de Turenne were present at some of them, and +a gentleman of Poitou, who was at all of them, became my proselyte. As I +was then but twenty-six years of age, this made a great deal of noise, +and among other effects, was productive of one that had not the least +connection with its cause, which I shall mention after I have done +justice to a civility I received from my antagonist in one of the +conferences. I had the advantage of him in the fifth meeting, relating +to the spiritual vocation; but in the sixth, treating of the Pope's +authority, I was confounded, because, to avoid embroiling myself with the +Court of Rome, I answered him on principles which are not so easy to be +maintained as those of the Sorbonne. My opponent perceived the concern I +was under, and generously forebore to urge such passages as would have +obliged me to explain myself in a manner disagreeable to the Pope's +Nuncio. I thought it extremely obliging, and as we were going out +thanked him in the presence of M. de Turenne; to which he answered, very +civilly, that it would have been a piece of injustice to hinder the Abbe +de Retz from being made a cardinal. This was such complaisance as you +are not to expect from every Geneva pedant. I told you before that this +conference produced one effect very different from its cause, and it is +this: Madame de Vendome, of whom you have heard, without doubt, took such +a fancy to me ever after, that a mother could not have been more tender. +She had been at the conference too, though I am very well assured she +understood nothing of the matter; but the favourable opinion she had of +me was owing to the Bishop of Lisieux, her spiritual director, who, +finding I was disposed to follow my profession, which out of his great +love to me he most passionately desired, made it his business to magnify +the few good qualities I was master of; and I am thoroughly persuaded +that what applause I had then in the world was chiefly owing to his +encouragement, for there was not a man in France whose approbation could +give so much honour. His sermons had advanced him from a very mean and +foreign extraction (which was Flemish) to the episcopal dignity, which he +adorned with solid and unaffected piety. His disinterestedness was far +beyond that of the hermits or anchorites. He had the courage of Saint +Ambrose, and at Court and in the presence of the King he so maintained +his usual freedom that the Cardinal de Richelieu, who had been his +scholar in divinity, both reverenced and feared him. This good man had +that abundant kindness for me that he read me lectures thrice a week upon +Saint Paul's Epistles, and he designed also the conversion of M. de +Turenne and to give me the honour of it. + +M. de Turenne had a great respect for him, whereof he gave him very, +distinguishing marks. The Comte de Brion, whom, I believe, you may +remember under the title of Duc d'Amville, was deeply in love with +Mademoiselle de Vendome, since Madame de Nemours; and, besides, he was a +great favourite of M. de Turenne, who, to do him a pleasure and to give +him the more opportunities to see Mademoiselle de Vendome, affected to be +a great admirer of the Bishop of Lisieux and to hear his exhortations +with a world of attention. The Comte de Brion, who had twice been a +Capuchin, and whose life was a continual medley of sin and devotion, +pretended likewise to be much interested in M. de Turenne's conversion, +and was present at all the conferences held at Mademoiselle de Vendome's +apartment. De Brion had very little wit, but was a clever talker, and +had a great deal of assurance, which not very seldom supplies the room of +good sense. This and the behaviour of M. de Turenne, together with the +indolence of Mademoiselle de Vendome, made me think all was fair, so that +I never suspected an amour at the bottom. + +The Bishop of Lisieux being a great admirer of Corneille's writings, and +making no scruple to see a good comedy, provided it was in the country +among a few friends, the late Madame de Choisy proposed to entertain him +with one at Saint Cloud. Accordingly Madame took with her Madame and +Mademoiselle de Vendome, M. de Turenne, M. de Brion, Voiture, and myself. +De Brion took care of the comedy and violins, and I looked after a good +collation. We went to the Archbishop's house at Saint Cloud, where the +comedians did not arrive till very late at night. M. de Lisieux admired +the violins, and Madame de Vendome was hugely diverted to see her +daughter dance alone. In short, we did not set out till peep of day (it +being summer-time), and the days at the longest, and were got no further +than the bottom of the Descent of Bonshommes, when all on a sudden the +coach stopped. I, being next the door opposite to Mademoiselle de +Vendome, bade the coachman drive on. He answered, as plain as he could +speak for his fright, "What! would you have me drive over all these +devils here?" I put my head out of the coach, but, being short-sighted +from my youth, saw nothing at all. Madame de Choisy, who was at the +other door with M. de Turenne, was the first in the coach who found out +the cause of the coachman's fright. I say in the coach, for five or six +lackeys behind it were already crying "Jesu Maria" and quaking with fear. + +Madame de Choisy cried out, upon which M. de Turenne threw himself out of +the coach, and I, thinking we were beset by highwaymen, leaped out on the +other side, took one of the footmen's hangers, drew it, and went to the +other aide to join M. de Turenne, whom I found with his eyes fixed on +something, but what I could not see. I asked him what it was, upon which +he pulled me by the sleeve, and said, with a low voice, "I will tell you, +but we must not frighten the ladies," who, by this time, screamed most +fearfully. Voiture began his Oremus, and prayed heartily. You, I +suppose, knew Madame de Choisy's shrill tone; Mademoiselle de Vendome was +counting her beads; Madame de Vendome would fain have confessed her sins +to the Bishop of Lisieux, who said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; +you are in the hands of God." At the same instant, the Comte do Brion +and all the lackeys were upon their knees very devoutly singing the +Litany of the Virgin Mary. + +M. de Turenne drew his sword, and said to me, with the calm and +undisturbed air he commonly puts on when he calls for his dinner, or +gives battle, "Come, let us go and see who they are." + +"Whom should we see?" said I, for I believed we had all lost our senses. + +He answered, "I verily think they are devils." + +When we had advanced five or six steps I began to see something which I +thought looked like a long procession of black phantoms. I was +frightened at first, because of the sudden reflection that I had often +wished to see a spirit, and that now, perhaps, I should pay for my +incredulity, or rather curiosity. M. de Turenne was all the while calm +and resolute. I made two or three leaps towards the procession, upon +which the company in the coach, thinking we were fighting with all the +devils, cried out most terribly; yet it is a question whether our company +was in a greater fright than the imaginary devils that put us into it, +who, it seems, were a parcel of barefooted reformed Augustine friars, +otherwise called the Black Capuchins, who, seeing two men advancing +towards them with drawn swords, one of them, detached from the +fraternity, cried out, "Gentlemen, we are poor, harmless friars, only +come to bathe in this river for our healths." M. de Turenne and I went +back to the coach ready to die with laughing at this adventure. + +Upon the whole we could not help making this reflection, that what we +read in the lives of most people is false. We were both grossly +mistaken, I, for supposing him to be frightened; he, for thinking me calm +and undisturbed. Who, therefore, can write truth better than the man who +has experienced it? The President de Thou is very just in his remark +when he says that "There is no true history extant, nor can be ever +expected unless written by honest men who are not afraid or ashamed to +tell the truth of themselves." I do not pretend to make any merit of my +sincerity in this case, for I feel so great a satisfaction in unfolding +my very heart and soul to you, that the pleasure is even more prevalent +than reason with me in the religious regard I have to the exactness of my +history. + +Mademoiselle de Vendome had ever after an inconceivable contempt for the +poor Comte de Brion, who in this ridiculous adventure had disclosed a +weakness never before imagined; and as soon as we were got into the coach +she bantered him, and said, particularly to me: + +"I fancy I must be Henri IV.'s granddaughter by the esteem I have for +valour. There's nothing can frighten you, since you were so undaunted on +this extraordinary occasion." + +I told her I was afraid, but being not so devout as M. de Brion, my fears +did not turn to litanies. + +"You feared not," said she, "and I fancy you do not believe there are +devils, for M. de Turenne, who is very brave, was much surprised, and did +not march on so briskly as you." + +I confess the distinction pleased me mightily and made me think of +venturing some compliments. I then said to her, "One may believe there +is a devil and yet not fear him; there are things in the world more +terrible." + +"And what are they?" said she. + +"They are so strong," said I, "that one dare not so much as name them." + +She interpreted my meaning rightly, as she told me since, though she +seemed at that time not to understand me. + +Mademoiselle was not what they call a great beauty, yet she was very +handsome, and I was complimented for saying of her and of Mademoiselle de +Guise that they were beauties of quality who convinced the beholders at +first sight that they were born Princesses. Mademoiselle de Vendome had +no great share of wit, but her folly lay as yet concealed; her air was +grave, tinctured with stateliness, not the effect of good sense, but the +consequence of a languid constitution, which sort of gravity often covers +a multitude of defects. In the main, take her altogether, she was really +amiable. + +Let me beseech you, madame, with all submission, to call now to mind the +commands you were pleased to honour me with a little before your +departure from Paris, that I should give you a precise account of every +circumstance and accident of my life, and conceal nothing. You see, by +what I have already related, that my ecclesiastical occupations were +diversified and relieved, though not disfigured, by other employments of +a more diverting nature. I observed a decorum in all my actions, and +where I happened to make a false step some good fortune or other always +retrieved it. All the ecclesiastics of the diocese wished to see me +succeed my uncle in the archbishopric of Paris, but Cardinal de Richelieu +was of another mind; he hated my family, and most of all my person, for +the reasons already mentioned, and was still more exasperated for these +two which follow. + +I once told the late President de Mesmes what seems now to me very +probable, though it is the reverse of what I told you some time ago, that +I knew a person who had few or no failings but what were either the +effect or cause of some good qualities. I then said, on the contrary, to +M. de Mesmes, that Cardinal de Richelieu had not one great quality but +what was the effect or cause of some greater imperfection. This, which +was only 'inter nos', was carried to the Cardinal, I do not know by whom, +under my name. You may judge of the consequences. Another thing that +angered him was because I visited the President Barillon, then prisoner +at Amboise, concerning remonstrances made to the Parliament, and that I +should do it at a juncture which made my journey the more noticeable. Two +miserable hermits and false coiners, who had some secret correspondence +with M. de Vendome, did, upon some discontent or other, accuse him very +falsely of having proposed to them to assassinate the Cardinal, and to +give the more weight to their depositions they named all those they +thought notorious in that country; Montresor and M. Barillon were of the +number. Early notice of this being given me, the great love I had for +the President Barillon made me take post that night to acquaint him with +his danger and get him away from Amboise, which was very feasible; but +he, insisting upon his innocence, rejected my proposals, defied both the +accusers and their accusations, and was resolved to continue in prison. +This journey of mine gave a handle to the Cardinal to tell the Bishop of +Lisieux that I was a cordial friend to all his enemies. + +"True enough," said the Bishop; "nevertheless you ought to esteem him; +you have no reason to complain of him, because those men whom you mean +were all his true friends before they became your enemies." + +"If it be so," replied the Cardinal, "then I am very much misinformed." + +The Bishop at this juncture did me all the kind offices imaginable, and +if the Cardinal had lived he would undoubtedly have restored me to his +favour; for his Eminence was very well disposed, especially when the +Bishop assured him that, though I knew myself ruined at Court to all +intents and purposes, yet I would never come into the measures of M. le +Grand.--[M. de Cinq-Mars, Henri Coeffier, otherwise called Ruze d'Effial, +Master of the Horse of France; he was beheaded September 12, 1642.]--I +was indeed importuned by my friend M. de Thou to join in that enterprise, +but I saw the weakness of their foundation, as the event has shown, and +therefore rejected their proposals. + +The Cardinal de Richelieu died in 1642, before the good Bishop had made +my peace with him, and so I remained among those who had rendered +themselves obnoxious to the Ministry. At first this character was very +prejudicial to my interest. Although the King was overjoyed at his +death, yet he carefully observed all the appearances of respect for his +deceased minister, confirmed all his legacies, cared for his family, kept +all his creatures in the Ministry, and affected to frown upon all who had +not stood well with the Cardinal; but I was the only exception to this +general rule. When the Archbishop of Paris presented me to the King, I +was treated with such distinguishing marks of royal favour as surprised +all the Court. His Majesty talked of my studies and sermons, rallied me +with an obliging freedom, and bade me come to Court once every week. The +reasons of these extraordinary civilities were utterly unknown to us +until the night before his death, when he told them to the Queen. I +passed them by in silence before as having no bearing on my history, but +I am obliged to insert them here because they have been, in their +consequences, more fortunate than I seemed to have any just claim to +expect. + +A short time after I left the college, my governor's valet de chambre +found, at a poor pin-maker's house, a niece of hers but fourteen years +old, who was surprisingly beautiful. After I had seen her he bought her +for me for 150 pistoles, hired a little house for her, and placed her +sister with her; when I went to see her I found her in great heaviness of +mind, which I attributed to her modesty. I next day found what was yet +more surprising and extraordinary than her beauty; she talked wisely and +religiously to me, and yet without passion. She cried only when she +could not help it. She feared her aunt to a degree that made me pity +her. I admired her wit first, and then her virtue, for trial of which I +pressed her as far as was necessary, until I was even ashamed of myself. +I waited till night to get her into my coach, and then carried her to my +aunt De Maignelai, who put her into a convent, where she died eight or +ten years after, in great reputation for piety. My aunt, to whom this +young creature confessed that the menaces of the pin-maker had terrified +her so much that she would have done whatsoever I wished, was so affected +with my behaviour that she went to tell it to the Bishop of Lisieux, who +told it to the King. + +This second adventure was not of the same nature, but it made as great an +impression on the King's mind. It was a duel I had with Coutenau, +captain of a company of the King's Light-horse, brave, but wild, who, +riding post from Paris as I was going there, made the ostler take off my +saddle and put on his. Upon my telling him I had hired the horse, he +gave me a swinging box on the ear, which fetched blood. I instantly drew +my sword, and so did he. While making our first thrusts his foot +slipped, and his sword dropped out of his hand as he fell to the ground. +I retired a little and bade him pick it up, which he did, but it was by +the point, for he presented me the handle and begged a thousand pardons. +He told this little story afterwards to the King, with whom he had great +freedom. His Majesty was pleased with it, and remembered both time and +place, as you will see hereafter. + +The good reception I found at Court gave my relatives some grounds to +hope that I might have the coadjutorship of Paris. At first they found a +great deal of difficulty in my uncle's narrowness of spirit, which is +always attended with fears and jealousies; but at length they prevailed +upon him, and would have then carried our point, if my friends had not +given it out, much against my judgment, that it was done by the consent +of the Archbishop of Paris, and if they had not suffered the Sorbonne, +the cures, and chapter to return him their thanks. This affair made too +much noise in the world for my interest. For Cardinal Mazarin, De +Noyers, and De Chavigni thwarted me, and told his Majesty that the +chapter should not be entrusted with the power of nominating their own +archbishop. And the King was heard to say that I was yet too young. + +But we met with a worse obstacle than all from M. de Noyers, Secretary of +State, one of the three favourite ministers, who passed for a religious +man, and was suspected by some to be a Jesuit in disguise. He had a +secret longing for the archbishopric of Paris, which would shortly be +vacant, and therefore thought it expedient to remove me from that city, +where he saw I was extremely beloved, and provide me with some post +suitable to my years. He proposed to the King by his confessor to +nominate me Bishop of Agde. The King readily granted the request, which +confounded me beyond all expression. I had no mind to go to Languedoc, +and yet so great are the inconveniences of a refusal that not a man had +courage to advise me to it. I became, therefore, my own counsellor, and +having resolved with myself what course to take, I waited upon his +Majesty, and thanked him for his gracious offer, but said I dreaded the +weight of so remote a see, and that my years wanted advice, which it is +difficult to obtain in provinces so distant. I added to this other +arguments, which you may guess at. I was in this adventure also more +happy than wise. The King continued to treat me very kindly. This +circumstance, and the retreat of M. de Noyers, who fell into the snare +that Chavigni had laid for him, renewed my hopes of the coadjutorship of +Paris. The King died about this time, in 1643. M. de Beaufort, who had +been always devoted to the Queen's interest, and even passed for her +gallant, pretended now to govern the kingdom, of which he was not so +capable as his valet de chambre. The Bishop of Beauvais, the greatest +idiot you ever knew, took upon himself the character of Prime Minister, +and on the first day of his administration required the Dutch to embrace +the Roman Catholic religion if they desired to continue in alliance with +France. The Queen was ashamed of this ridiculous minister, and sent for +me to offer my father--[Philippe Emmanuel de Gondi, Comte de Joigni; he +retired to the Fathers of the Oratory, and became priest; died 1662, +aged eighty-one.]--the place of Prime Minister; but he refusing +peremptorily to leave his cell and the Fathers of the Oratory, the place +was conferred upon Cardinal Mazarin. + +You may now imagine that it was no great task for me to obtain what I +desired at a time that nothing was refused, which made Feuillade say that +the only words in the French tongue were "La Reine est si bonne." + +Madame de Maignelai and the Bishop of Lisieux desired the Queen to grant +me the coadjutorship of Paris, but they were repulsed, the Queen assuring +them that none should have it but my father, who kept from Court; and +would never be seen at the Louvre, except once, when the Queen told him +publicly that the King, the very night before he died, had ordered her +expressly to have it solicited for me, and that he said in the presence +of the Bishop of Lisieux that he had me always in his thoughts since the +adventures of the pinmaker and Captain Coutenau. What relation had these +trifling stories to the archbishopric of Paris? Thus we see that affairs +of the greatest moment often owe their rise and success to insignificant +trifles and accidents. All the companies went to thank the Queen. I +sent 16,000 crowns to Rome for my bull, with orders not to desire any +favour, lest it should delay the despatch and give the ministers time to +oppose it. I received my bull accordingly; and now you will see me +ascending the theatre of action, where you will find scenes not indeed +worthy of yourself, but not altogether unworthy of your attention. + + + + +BOOK II. + + +MADAME:--I lay it down as a maxim, that men who enter the service of the +State should make it their chief study to set out in the world with some +notable act which may strike the imagination of the people, and cause +themselves to be discussed. Thus I preached first upon All Saints' Day, +before an audience which could not but be numerous in a populous city, +where it is a wonder to see the Archbishop in the pulpit. I began now to +think seriously upon my future conduct. I found the archbishopric sunk +both in its temporals and spirituals by the sordidness, negligence, and +incapacity of my uncle. I foresaw infinite obstacles to its +reestablishment, but perceived that the greatest and most insuperable +difficulty lay in myself. I considered that the strictest morals are +necessarily required in a bishop. I felt myself the more obliged to be +strictly circumspect as my uncle had been very disorderly and scandalous. +I knew likewise that my own corrupt inclinations would bear down all +before them, and that all the considerations drawn from honour and +conscience would prove very weak defences. At last I came to a +resolution to go on in my sins, and that designedly, which without doubt +is the more sinful in the eyes of God, but with regard to the world is +certainly the best policy, because he that acts thus always takes care +beforehand to cover part of his failings, and thereby to avoid the +jumbling together of sin and devotion, than which nothing can be more +dangerous and ridiculous in a clergyman. This was my disposition, which +was not the most pious in the world nor yet the wickedest, for I was +fully determined to discharge all the duties of my profession faithfully, +and exert my utmost to save other souls, though I took no care of my own. + +The Archbishop, who was the weakest of mortals, was, nevertheless, by a +common fatality attending such men, the most vainglorious; he yielded +precedence to every petty officer of the Crown, and yet in his own house +would not give the right-hand to any person of quality that came to him +about business. My behaviour was the reverse of his in almost +everything; I gave the right-hand to all strangers in my own house, and +attended them even to their coach, for which I was commended by some for +my civility and by others for my humility. I avoided appearing in public +assemblies among people of quality till I had established a reputation. +When I thought I had done so, I took the opportunity of the sealing of a +marriage contract to dispute my rank with M. de Guise. I had carefully +studied the laws of my diocese and got others to do it for me, and my +right was indisputable in my own province. The precedence was adjudged +in my favour by a decree of the Council, and I found, by the great number +of gentlemen who then appeared for me, that to condescend to men of low +degree is the surest way to equal those of the highest. + +I dined almost every day with Cardinal Mazarin, who liked me the better +because I refused to engage myself in the cabal called "The Importants," +though many of the members were my dearest friends. M. de Beaufort, a +man of very mean parts, was so much out of temper because the Queen had +put her confidence in Cardinal Mazarin, that, though her Majesty offered +him favours with profusion, he would accept none, and affected to give +himself the airs of an angry lover. He held aloof from the Duc +d'Orleans, insulted the late Prince, and, in order to support himself +against the Queen-regent, the chief minister, and all the Princes of the +blood, formed a cabal of men who all died mad, and whom I never took for +conjurers from the first time I knew them. Such were Beaupre, +Fontrailles, Fiesque, Montresor, who had the austerity of Cato, but not +his sagacity, and M. de Bethune, who obliged M. de Beaufort to make me +great overtures, which I received very respectfully, but entered into +none. I told Montresor that I was indebted to the Queen for the +coadjutorship of Paris, and that that was enough to keep me from entering +into any engagement that might be disagreeable to her Majesty. Montresor +said I was not obliged for it to the Queen, it having been ordered before +by the late King, and given me at a crisis when she was not in a +condition to refuse it. I replied, "Permit me, monsieur, to forget +everything that may diminish my gratitude, and to remember that only +which may increase it." These words were afterwards repeated to Cardinal +Mazarin, who was so pleased with me that he repeated them to the Queen. + +The families of Orleans and Conde, being united by interest, made a jest +of that surly look from which Beaufort's cabal were termed "The +Importants," and at the same time artfully made use of the grand +appearance which Beaufort (like those who carry more sail than ballast) +never failed to assume upon the most trifling occasions. His counsels +were unseasonable, his meetings to no purpose, and even his hunting +matches became mysterious. In short, Beaufort was arrested at the Louvre +by a captain of the Queen's Guards, and carried on the 2d of September, +1643, to Vincennes. The cabal of "The Importants" was put to flight and +dispersed, and it was reported over all the kingdom that they had made an +attempt against the Cardinal's life, which I do not believe, because I +never saw anything in confirmation of it, though many of the domestics of +the family of Vendome were a long time in prison upon this account. + +The Marquis de Nangis, who was enraged both against the Queen and +Cardinal, for reasons which I shall tell you afterwards, was strongly +tempted to come into this cabal a few days before Beaufort was arrested, +but I dissuaded him by telling him that fashion is powerful in all the +affairs of life, but more remarkably so as to a man's being in favour or +disgrace at Court. There are certain junctures when disgrace, like fire, +purifies all the bad qualities, and sets a lustre on all the good ones, +and also there are times when it does not become an honest man to be out +of favour at Court. I applied this to the gentlemen of the aforesaid +cabal. + +I must confess, to the praise of Cardinal de Richelieu, that he had +formed two vast designs worthy of a Caesar or an Alexander: that of +suppressing the Protestants had been projected before by Cardinal de +Retz, my uncle; but that of attacking the formidable house of Austria was +never thought of by any before the Cardinal. He completed the first +design, and had made great progress in the latter. + +That the King's death made no alteration in affairs was owing to the +bravery of the Prince de Conde and the famous battle of Rocroi, in 1643, +which contributed both to the peace and glory of the kingdom, and covered +the cradle of the present King with laurels. Louis XIV.'s father, who +neither loved nor esteemed his Queen, provided him a Council, upon his +death-bed, for limiting the authority of the Regency, and named the +Cardinal Mazarin, M. Seguier, M. Bouthillier, and M. de Chavigni; but +being all Richelieu's creatures, they were so hated by the public that +when the King was dead they were hissed at by all the footmen at Saint +Germain, and if De Beaufort had had a grain of sense, or if De Beauvais +had not been a disgraceful bishop, or if my father had but entered into +the administration, these collateral Regents would have been undoubtedly +expelled with ignominy, and the memory of Cardinal de Richelieu been +branded by the Parliament with shouts of joy. + +The Queen was adored much more for her troubles than for her merit. Her +admirers had never seen her but under persecution; and in persons of her +rank, suffering is one of the greatest virtues. People were apt to fancy +that she was patient to a degree of indolence. In a word, they expected +wonders from her; and Bautru used to say she had already worked a miracle +because the most devout had forgotten her coquetry. The Duc d'Orleans, +who made a show as if he would have disputed the Regency with the Queen, +was contented to be Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom. The Prince de +Conde was declared President of the Council, and the Parliament confirmed +the Regency to the Queen without limitation. The exiles were called +home, prisoners set at liberty, and criminals pardoned. They who had +been turned out were replaced in their respective employments, and +nothing that was asked was refused. The happiness of private families +seemed to be fully secured in the prosperity of the State. The perfect +union of the royal family settled the peace within doors; and the battle +of Rocroi was such a blow to the Spanish infantry that they could not +recover in an age. They saw at the foot of the throne, where the fierce +and terrible Richelieu used to thunder rather than govern, a mild and +gentle successor,--[Cardinal Julius Mazarin, Minister of State, who died +at Vincennes in 1661.]--who was perfectly complacent and extremely +troubled that his dignity of Cardinal did not permit him to be as humble +to all men as he desired; and who, when he went abroad, had no other +attendants than two footmen behind his coach. Had not I, then, reason +for saying that it did not become an honest man to be on bad terms with +the Court at that time of day? + +You will wonder, no doubt, that nobody was then aware of the consequence +of imprisoning M. de Beaufort, when the prison doors were set open to all +others. This bold stroke--at a time when the Government was so mild that +its authority was hardly felt--had a very great effect. Though nothing +was more easy, as you have seen, yet it looked grand; and all acts of +this nature are very successful because they are attended with dignity +without any odium. That which generally draws an unaccountable odium +upon even the most necessary actions of statesmen, is that, in order to +compass them, they are commonly obliged to struggle with very great +difficulties, which, when they are surmounted, are certain to render them +objects both of envy and hatred. When a considerable occasion offers, +where there is no victory to be gained because there is no difficulty to +encounter, which is very rare, it gives a lustre to the authority of +ministers which is pure, innocent, and without a shadow, and not only +establishes it, but casts upon their administration the merit of actions +which they have no hand in, as well as those of which they have. + +When the world saw that the Cardinal had apprehended the man who had +lately brought the King back to Paris with inconceivable pride, men's +imaginations were seized with an astonishing veneration. People thought +themselves much obliged to the Minister that some were not sent to the +Bastille every week; and the sweetness of his temper was sure to be +commended whenever he had not an opportunity of doing them harm. It must +be owned that he had the art of improving his good luck to the best +advantage. He made use of all the outward appearances necessary to +create a belief that he had been forced to take violent measures, and +that the counsels of the Duc d'Orleans and the Prince de Conde had +determined the Queen to reject his advice; the day following he seemed to +be more moderate, civil, and frank than before; he gave free access to +all; audiences were easily had, it was no more to dine with him than with +a private gentleman. He had none of that grand air so common to the +meaner cardinals. In short, though he was at the head of everybody, yet +he managed as if he were only their companion. That which astonishes me +most is that the princes and grandees of the kingdom, who, one might +expect, would be more quick-sighted than the common people, were the most +blinded. + +The Duc d'Orleans and the Prince de Conde--the latter attached to the +Court by his covetous temper--thought themselves above being rivalled; +the Duke--[Henri de Bourbon, Duc d'Enghien, born 1646, died 1686. We +shall often speak of him in this history.]--was old enough to take his +repose under the shadow of his laurels; M. de Nemours--[Charles Amadeus +of Savoy, killed in a duel by M. de Beaufort, 1650.]--was but a child; M. +de Guise, lately returned from Brussels, was governed by Madame de Pons, +and thought to govern the whole Court; M. de Schomberg complied all his +life long with the humour of those who were at the helm; M. de Grammont +was a slave to them. The Parliament, being delivered from the tyranny of +Richelieu, imagined the golden age was returning, being daily assured by +the Prime Minister that the Queen would not take one step without them. +The clergy, who are always great examples of slavish servitude +themselves, preached it to others under the plausible title of passive +obedience. Thus both clergy and laity were, in an instant, become the +devotees of Mazarin. + +Being ordered by my Lord Archbishop of Paris to take care of his diocese +in his absence, my first business was, by the Queen's express command, to +visit the Nuns of the Conception, where, knowing that there were above +fourscore virgins, many of whom were very pretty and some coquettes, I +was very loth to go for fear, of exposing my virtue to temptation; but I +could not be excused, so I went, and preserved my virtue, to my +neighbour's edification, because for six weeks together I did not see the +face of any one of the nuns, nor talked to any of them but when their +veils were down, which gave me a vast reputation for chastity. I +continued to perform all the necessary functions in the diocese as far as +the jealousy of my uncle would give me leave, and, forasmuch as he was +generally so peevish that it was a very hard matter to please him, I at +length chose to sit still and do nothing. Thus I made the best use +imaginable of my uncle's ill-nature, being sure to convince him of my +honest intentions upon all occasions; whereas had I been my own master, +the rules of good conduct would have obliged me to confine myself to +things in their own nature practicable. + +The Cardinal Mazarin confessed to me, many years afterwards, that this +conduct of mine in managing the affairs of the diocese, though it did him +no injury, was the first thing that made him jealous of my growing +greatness in Paris. Another thing alarmed him with as little reason, and +that was my undertaking to examine the capacity of all the priests of my +diocese, a thing of inconceivable use and importance. For this end I +erected three tribunals, composed of canons, curates, and men of +religious orders, who were to reduce all the priests under three +different classes, whereof the first was to consist of men well +qualified, who were therefore to be left in the exercise of their +functions; the second was to comprehend those who were not at present, +but might in time prove able men; and the third of such men as were +neither now nor ever likely to become so. The two last classes, being +separated from the first, were not to exercise their functions, but were +lodged in separate houses; those of the second class were instructed in +the doctrine, but the third only in the practice of piety. As this could +not but be very expensive, the good people opened their purses and +contributed liberally. The Cardinal was so disturbed when he heard of it +that he got the Queen to send for my uncle upon a frivolous occasion, +who, for reasons as frivolous, ordered me to desist. Though I was very +well informed, by my good friend the Almoner, that the blow came from +Court, I bore it with a great deal more patience than was consistent with +a man of my spirit, for I did not seem to take the least notice of it, +but was as gracious to the Cardinal as ever. But I was not so wary in +another case which happened some time after, for honest Morangis telling +me I was too extravagant, which was but too true, I answered him rashly, +"I have made a calculation that Caesar, when at my age, owed six times as +much." This remark was carried, unluckily, by a doctor then present, to +M. Servien, who told it maliciously to the Cardinal, who made a jest of +it, as he had reason to do, but he took notice of it, for which I cannot +blame him. + +In 1645 I was invited, as a diocesan, to the assembly of the clergy, +which, I may truly say, was the rock whereon the little share of favour I +had at Court was cast away. Cardinal de Richelieu had given a cruel blow +to the dignity and liberty of the clergy in the assembly of Mantes, and, +with very barbarous circumstances, had banished six of his most +considerable prelates. It was resolved in this assembly of 1645 to make +them some amends for their firmness on that occasion by inviting them to +come and take their places--though they were not deputed--among their +brethren. When this was first, proposed in the assembly, nobody dreamt +that the Court would take offence at it, and it falling to my turn to +speak first, I proposed the said resolution, as it had been concerted +betwixt us before in private conversation, and it was unanimously +approved of by the assembly. + +At my return home the Queen's purse-bearer came to me with an order to +attend her Majesty forthwith, which I accordingly obeyed. When I came +into her presence she said she could not have believed I would ever have +been wanting in my duty to that degree as to wound the memory of the late +King, her lord. I had such reasons to offer as she could not herself +confute, and therefore referred me to the Cardinal, but I found he +understood those things no better than her Majesty. He spoke to me with +the haughtiest air in the world, refused to hear my justification, and +commanded me in the King's name to retract publicly the next day in full +assembly. You may imagine how difficult it was for me to resolve what to +do. However, I did not break out beyond the bounds of modest respect, +and, finding that my submission made no impression upon the Cardinal, I +got the Bishop of Arles, a wise and moderate gentleman, to go to him +along with me, and to join with me in offering our reasons. But we found +his Eminence a very ignoramus in ecclesiastical polity. I only mention +this to let you see that in my first misunderstanding with the Court I +was not to blame, and that my respect for the Cardinal upon the Queen's +account was carried to an excess of patience. + +Some months after, his profound ignorance and envenomed malice furnished +me with a fresh occasion to exercise patience. The Bishop of Warmia, one +of the ambassadors that came to fetch the Queen of Poland, was very +desirous to celebrate the marriage in the Church of Notre-Dame. Though +the archbishops of Paris never suffered solemnities of this kind to be +celebrated in their churches by any but cardinals of the royal family, +and though my uncle had been highly blamed by all his clergy for +permitting the Cardinal de La Rochefoucault to marry the Queen of +England,--[Henriette Marie of France, daughter of Henri IV., died +1669.]--nevertheless I was ordered by a 'lettre de cachet' to prepare the +said Church of Notre Dame for the Bishop of Warmia, which order ran in +the same style as that given to the 'prevot des marchands' when he is to +prepare the Hotel de Ville for a public ball. I showed the letter to the +deans and canons, and said I did not doubt but it was a stratagem of one +or other of the Secretary of State's clerks to get a gift of money. + +I thereupon went to the Cardinal, pressed him with both reasons and +precedents, and said that, as I was his particular humble servant, I +hoped he would be pleased to lay them before her Majesty, making use of +all other persuasion--which I thought would dispose him to a compliance. +It was then that I learned that he only wanted an opportunity to embroil +me with the Queen, for though I saw plainly that he was sorry he had +given such orders before he knew their consequence, yet, after some +pause, he reassumed his former obstinacy to the very last degree; and, +because I spoke in the name of the Archbishop and of the whole Church of +Paris, he stormed as much as if a private person upon his own authority +had presumed to make a speech to him at the head of fifty malcontents. I +endeavoured with all respect to show him that our case was quite +different; but he was so ignorant of our manners and customs that he took +everything by the wrong handle. He ended the conversation very abruptly +and rudely, and referred me to the Queen. I found her Majesty in a +fretful mood, and all I could get out of her was a promise to hear the +chapter upon this affair, without whose consent--I had declared I could +not conclude anything. + +I sent for them accordingly, and having introduced them to the Queen, +they spoke very discreetly and to the purpose. The Queen sent us back to +the Cardinal, who entertained us only with impertinences, and as he had +but a superficial knowledge of the French language, he concluded by +telling me that I had talked very insolently to him the night before. You +may imagine that that word was enough to vex me, but having resolved +beforehand to keep my temper, I smiled, and said to the deputies, +"Gentlemen, this is fine language." He was nettled at my smile, and said +to me in aloud tone, "Do you know whom you talk to? I will teach you how +to behave." Now, I confess, my blood began to boil. I told him that the +Coadjutor of Paris was talking to Cardinal Mazarin, but that perhaps he +thought himself the Cardinal de Lorraine, and me the Bishop of Metz, his +suffragan. + +Then we went away and met the Marechal d'Estrees coming up to us, who +came to advise me not to break with the Court, and to tell me that things +might be arranged; and when he found I was of another opinion, he told me +in plain terms that he had orders from the Queen to oblige me to come to +her. I went without more ado, accompanied by the deputies, and found her +more gracious and better humoured than I am able to express. She told me +that she had a mind to see me, not so much in relation to our affair, +which might be easily accommodated, as to reprimand me for using such +language to the poor Cardinal, who was as meek as a lamb, and loved me as +his own son. She added all the kind things possible, and ordered the +dean and deputies to go along with me to the Cardinal's house, that we +might consult together what course to take. This was so much against my +inclination that I gave the Queen to understand that no person in the +world but her Majesty could have persuaded me to it. + +We found the Minister even milder than his mistress. He made a world of +excuses for the word "insolent," by which he said, and perhaps it may be +true, that he meant no more than 'insolito', a word signifying "somewhat +uncommon." He showed me all the civility imaginable, but, instead of +coming to any determination, put us off to another opportunity. A few +days after, a letter was brought me at midnight from the Archbishop, +commanding me to let the Bishop of Warmia perform the marriage without +any more opposition. + +Had I been wise I should have stopped there, because a man ought in +prudence to make his peace with the Court upon any terms consistent with +honour. But I was young, and the more provoked because I perceived that +all the fair words given me at Fontainebleau were but a feint to gain +time to write about the affair to my uncle, then at Angers. However, I +said nothing to the messenger, more than that I was glad my uncle had so +well brought me off. The chapter being likewise served with the same +order, we sent the Court this answer: That the Archbishop might do what +he listed in the nave of the church, but that the choir belonged to the +chapter, and they would yield it to no man but himself or his coadjutor. +The Cardinal knew the meaning of this, and thereupon resolved to have the +marriage solemnised in the Chapel Royal, whereof he said the Great +Almoner was bishop. But this being a yet more important question than +the other, I laid the inconveniences of it before him in a letter. This +nettled him, and he made a mere jest of my letter. I gave the Queen of +Poland to understand that, if she were married in that manner, I should +be forced, even against my will, to declare the marriage void; but that +there remained one expedient which would effectually remove all +difficulties,--that the marriage might be performed in the King's Chapel, +and should stand good provided that the Bishop of Warmia came to me for a +license. + +The Queen, resolving to lose no more time by awaiting new orders from +Angers, and fearing the least flaw in her marriage, the Court was obliged +to comply with my proposal, and the ceremony was performed accordingly. + +Not long after this marriage I was unhappily embroiled with the Duc +d'Orleans, upon an occasion of no greater importance than my foot-cloth +in the Church of Notre-Dame, which was by mistake removed to his seat. I +complained of it to him, and he ordered it to be restored. Nevertheless +the Abby de la Riviere made him believe I had put an affront upon him +that was too public to be pardoned. The Duke was so simple as to believe +it, and, while the courtiers turned all into banter, he swore he would +receive incense before me at the said church for the future. In the +meantime the Queen sent for me, and told me that the Duke was in a +terrible passion, for which she was very sorry, but that nevertheless she +could not help being of his opinion, and therefore insisted upon it that +I ought to give him satisfaction in the Church of Notre-Dame the Sunday +following. Upon the whole she referred me to Cardinal Mazarin, who +declared to me at first that he was very sorry to see me in so much +trouble, blamed the Abby for having incensed the Duke to such a degree, +and used all the arguments he could to wheedle me to give my consent to +being degraded. And when he saw I was not to be led, he endeavoured to +drive me into the snare. He stormed with an air of authority, and would +fain have bullied me into compliance, telling me that hitherto he had +spoken as a friend, but that I had forced him henceforth to speak as a +minister. He also began to threaten, and the conversation growing warm, +he sought to pick a quarrel by insinuating that if I would do as Saint +Ambrose did, I ought to lead a life like him. As he spoke this loud +enough to be heard by some bishops at the other end of the room, I +likewise raised my voice, and told him I would endeavour to make the best +use of his advice, but he might assure himself I was fully resolved so to +imitate Saint Ambrose in this affair that I might, through his means, +obtain grace to be able to imitate him in all others. + +I had not been long gone home when the Marechal d'Estrees and M. +Senneterre came, furnished with all the flowers of rhetoric, to persuade +me that degradation was honourable; and finding me immovable, they +insinuated that my obstinacy might oblige his Highness to use force, and +order his guards to carry me, in spite of myself, to Notre-Dame, and +place me there on a seat below his. I thought this suggestion too +ridiculous to mind it at first, but being forewarned of it that very +evening by the Duke's Chancellor, I put myself upon the defensive, which +I think is the most ridiculous piece of folly I was ever guilty of, +considering it was against a son of France, and when there was a profound +tranquillity in the State, without the least appearance of any commotion. +The Duke, to whom I had the honour of being related, was pleased with my +boldness. He remembered the Abby de la Riviere for his insolence in +complaining that the Prince de Conti was marked down for a cardinal +before him; besides, the Duke knew I was in the right, having made it +very evident in a statement I had published upon this head. He +acquainted the Cardinal with it, said he would not suffer the least +violence to be offered to me; that I was both his kinsman and devoted +servant, and that he would not set out for the army till he saw the +affair at an end. + +All the Court was in consternation for fear of a rupture, especially when +the Prince de Conde had been informed by the Queen of what his son had +said; and when he came to my house and found there sixty or eighty +gentlemen, this made him believe that a league was already made with the +Duke, but there was nothing in it. He swore, he threatened, he begged, +he flattered, and in his transports he let fall some expressions which +showed that the Duke was much more concerned for my interest than he ever +yet owned to me. I submitted that very instant, and told the Prince that +I would do anything rather than the royal family should be divided on my +account. The Prince, who hitherto found me immovable, was so touched at +my sudden surrender in complaisance to his son, at the very time, too, +when he himself had just assured me I was to expect a powerful protection +from him, that he suddenly changed his temper, so that, instead of +thinking as he did at first, that there was no satisfaction great enough +for the Duc d'Orleans, he now determined plainly in favour of the +expedient I had so often proposed,--that I should go and declare to him, +in the presence of the whole Court, that I never designed to be wanting +in the respect I owed him, and that the orders of the Church had obliged +me to act as I did at Notre-Dame. The Cardinal and the Abby de la +Riviere were enraged to the last degree, but the Prince put them into +such fear of the Duke that they were fain to submit. The Prince took me +to the Duc d'Orleans's house, where I gave them satisfaction before the +whole Court, precisely in the words above mentioned. His Highness was +quite satisfied with my reasons, carried me to see his medals, and thus +ended the controversy. + +As this affair and the marriage of the Queen of Poland had embroiled me +with the Court, you may easily conceive what turn the courtiers gave to +it. But here I found by experience that all the powers upon earth cannot +hurt the reputation of a man who preserves it established and unspotted +in the society whereof he is a member. All the learned clergy took my +part, and I soon perceived that many of those who had before blamed my +conduct now retracted. I made this observation upon a thousand other +occasions. I even obliged the Court, some time after, to commend my +proceedings, and took an opportunity to convince the Queen that it was my +dignity, and not any want of respect and gratitude, that made me resist +the Court in the two former cases. The Cardinal was very well pleased +with me, and said in public that he found me as much concerned for the +King's service as I was before for the honour of my character. + +It falling to my turn to make the speech at the breaking up of the +assembly of the clergy at Paris, I had the good luck to please both the +clergy and the Court. Cardinal Mazarin took me to supper with him alone, +seemed to be clear of all prejudices against me, and I verily believe was +fully persuaded that he had been imposed upon. But I was too much +beloved in Paris to continue long in favour at Court. This was a crime +that rendered me disagreeable in the eyes of a refined Italian statesman, +and which was the more dangerous from the fact that I lost no opportunity +of aggravating it by a natural and unaffected expense, to which my air of +negligence gave a lustre, and by my great alms and bounty, which, though +very often secret, had the louder echo; whereas, in truth, I had acted +thus at first only in compliance with inclination and out of a sense of +duty. But the necessity I was under of supporting myself against the +Court obliged me to be yet more liberal. I do but just mention it here +to show you that the Court was jealous of me, when I never thought myself +capable of giving them the least occasion, which made me reflect that a +man is oftener deceived by distrusting than by being overcredulous. + +Cardinal Mazarin, who was born and bred in the Pope's dominions, where +papal authority has no limits, took the impetus given to the regal power +by his tutor, the Cardinal de Richelieu, to be natural to the body +politic, which mistake of his occasioned the civil war, though we must +look much higher for its prime cause. + +It is above 1,200 years that France has been governed by kings, but they +were not as absolute at first as they are now. Indeed, their authority +was never limited by written laws as are the Kings of England and +Castile, but only moderated by received customs, deposited, as I may say, +at first in the hands of the States of the kingdom, and afterwards in +those of the Parliament. The registering of treaties with other Crowns +and the ratifications of edicts for raising money are almost obliterated +images of that wise medium between the exorbitant power of the Kings and +the licentiousness of the people instituted by our ancestors. Wise and +good Princes found that this medium was such a seasoning to their power +as made it delightful to their people. On the other hand, weak and +vicious Kings always hated it as an obstacle to all their extravagances. +The history of the Sire de Joinville makes it evident that Saint Louis +was an admirer of this scheme of government, and the writings of Oresme, +Bishop of Lisieux, and of the famous Juvenal des Ursins, convince us that +Charles V., who merited the surname of Wise, never thought his power to +be superior to the laws and to his duty. Louis XI., more cunning than +truly wise, broke his faith upon this head as well as all others. Louis +XII. would have restored this balance of power to its ancient lustre if +the ambition of Cardinal Amboise,--[George d'Amboise, the first of the +name, in 1498 Minister to Louis XII., deceased 1510.]--who governed him +absolutely, had not opposed it. + +The insatiable avarice of Constable Montmorency--[Anne de Montmorency, +Constable of France in 1538, died 1567.]--tended rather to enlarge than +restrain the authority of Francois I. The extended views and vast +designs of M. de Guise would not permit them to think of placing bounds +to the prerogative under Francois II. In the reigns of Charles IX. and +Henri III. the Court was so fatigued with civil broils that they took +everything for rebellion which was not submission. Henri IV., who was +not afraid of the laws, because he trusted in himself, showed he had a +high esteem for them. The Duc de Rohan used to say that Louis XIII. was +jealous of his own authority because he was ignorant of its full extent, +for the Marechal d'Ancrel and M. de Luynes were mere dunces, incapable of +informing him. Cardinal de Richelieu, who succeeded them, collected all +the wicked designs and blunders of the two last centuries to serve his +grand purpose. He laid them down as proper maxims for establishing the +King's authority, and, fortune seconding his designs by the disarming of +the Protestants in France, by the victories of the Swedes, by the +weakness of the Empire and of Spain, he established the most scandalous +and dangerous tyranny that perhaps ever enslaved a State in the best +constituted monarchy under the sun. + +Custom, which has in some countries inured men even to broil as it were +in the heat of the sun, has made things familiar to us which our +forefathers dreaded more than fire itself. We no longer feel the slavery +which they abhorred more for the interest of their King than for their +own. Cardinal de Richelieu counted those things crimes which before him +were looked upon as virtues. The Mirons, Harlays, Marillacs, Pibracs, +and the Fayes, those martyrs of the State who dispelled more factions by +their wholesome maxims than were raised in France by Spanish or British +gold, were defenders of the doctrine for which the Cardinal de Richelieu +confined President Barillon in the prison of Amboise. And the Cardinal +began to punish magistrates for advancing those truths which they were +obliged by their oaths to defend at the hazard of their lives. + +Our wise Kings, who understood their true interest, made the Parliament +the depositary of their ordinances, to the end that they might exempt +themselves from part of the odium that sometimes attends the execution of +the most just and necessary decrees. They thought it no disparagement to +their royalty to be bound by them,--like unto God, who himself obeys the +laws he has preordained. ['A good government: where the people obey their +king and the king obeys the law'--Solon. D.W.] Ministers of State, who +are generally so blinded by the splendour of their fortune as never to be +content with what the laws allow, make it their business to overturn +them; and Cardinal de Richelieu laboured at it more constantly than any +other, and with equal application and imprudence. + +God only is self-existent and independent; the most rightful monarchs and +established monarchies in the world cannot possibly be supported but by +the conjunction of arms and laws,--a union so necessary that the one +cannot subsist without the other. Laws without the protection of arms +sink into contempt, and arms which are not tempered by laws quickly turn +a State into anarchy. The Roman commonwealth being set aside by Julius +Caesar, the supreme power which was devolved upon his successors by force +of arms subsisted no longer than they were able to maintain the authority +of the laws; for as soon as the laws lost their force, the power of the +Roman Emperors vanished, and the very men that were their favourites, +having got possession of their seals and their arms, converted their +masters' substance into their own, and, as it were, sucked them dry under +the shelter of those repealed laws. The Roman Empire, formerly sold by +auction to the highest bidder, and the Turkish emperors, whose necks are +exposed every day to the bowstring, show us in very bloody characters the +blindness of those men that make authority to consist only in force. + +But why need we go abroad for examples when we have so many at home? +Pepin, in dethroning the Merovingian family, and Capet, in dispossessing +the Carlovingians, made use of nothing else but the same power which the +ministers, their predecessors, had acquired under the authority of their +masters; and it is observable that the mayors of the Palace and the +counts of Paris placed themselves on the thrones of kings exactly by the +same methods that gained them their masters' favours,--that is, by +weakening and changing the laws of the land, which at first always +pleases weak princes, who fancy it aggrandises their power; but in its +consequence it gives a power to the great men and motives to the common +people to rebel against their authority. Cardinal de Richelieu was +cunning enough to have all these views, but he sacrificed everything to +his interest. He would govern according to his own fancy, which scorned +to be tied to rules, even in cases where it would have cost him nothing +to observe them. And he acted his part so well that, if his successor +had been a man of his abilities, I doubt not that the title of Prime +Minister, which he was the first to assume, would have been as odious in +France in a little time as were those of the Maire du Palais and the +Comte de Paris. But by the providence of God, Cardinal Mazarin, who +succeeded him, was not capable of giving the State any jealousy of his +usurpation. As these two ministers contributed chiefly, though in a +different way, to the civil war, I judge it highly necessary to give you +the particular character of each, and to draw a parallel between them. + +Cardinal de Richelieu was well descended; his merit sparkled even in his +youth. He was taken notice of at the Sorbonne, and it was very soon +observed that he had a strong genius and a lively fancy. He was commonly +happy in the choice of his parties. He was a man of his word, unless +great interests swayed him to the contrary, and in such a case he was +very artful to preserve all the appearances of probity. He was not +liberal, yet he gave more than he promised, and knew admirably well how +to season all his favours. He was more ambitious than was consistent +with the rules of morality, although it must be owned that, whenever he +dispensed with them in favour of his extravagant ambition, his great +merit made it almost excusable. He neither feared dangers nor yet +despised them, and prevented more by his sagacity than he surmounted by +his resolution. He was a hearty friend, and even wished to be beloved by +the people; but though he had civility, a good aspect, and all the other +qualifications to gain that love, yet he still wanted something--I know +not what to call it--which is absolutely necessary in this case. By his +power and royal state he debased and swallowed up the personal majesty of +the King. He distinguished more judiciously than any man in the world +between bad and worse, good and better, which is a great qualification in +a minister. He was too apt to be impatient at mere trifles when they had +relation to things of moment; but those blemishes, owing to his lofty +spirit, were always accompanied with the necessary talent of knowledge to +make amends for those imperfections. He had religion enough for this +world. His own good sense, or else his inclination, always led him to +the practice of virtue if his self-interest did not bias him to evil, +which, whenever he committed it, he did so knowingly. He extended his +concern for the State no further than his own life, though no minister +ever did more than he to make the world believe he had the same regard +for the future. In a word, all his vices were such that they received a +lustre from his great fortune, because they were such as could have no +other instruments to work with but great virtues. You will easily +conceive that a man who possessed such excellent qualities, and appeared +to have as many more,--which he had not,--found it no hard task to +preserve that respect among mankind which freed him from contempt, though +not from hatred. + +Cardinal Mazarin's character was the reverse of the former; his birth was +mean, and his youth scandalous. He was thrashed by one Moretto, a +goldsmith of Rome, as he was going out of the amphitheatre, for having +played the sharper. He was a captain in a foot regiment, and Bagni, his +general, told me that while he was under his command, which was but three +months, he was only looked upon as a cheat. By the interest of Cardinal +Antonio Barberini, he was sent as Nuncio Extraordinary to France, which +office was not obtained in those days by fair means. He so tickled +Chavigni by his loose Italian stories that he was shortly after +introduced to Cardinal de Richelieu, who made him Cardinal with the same +view which, it is thought, determined the Emperor Augustus to leave the +succession of the Empire to Tiberius. He was still Richelieu's +obsequious, humble servant, notwithstanding the purple. The Queen making +choice of him, for want of another, his pedigree was immediately derived +from a princely family. The rays of fortune having dazzled him and +everybody about him, he rose, and they glorified him for a second +Richelieu, whom he had the impudence to ape, though he had nothing of +him; for what his predecessor counted honourable he esteemed scandalous. +He made a mere jest of religion. He promised everything without scruple; +at the same time he intended to perform nothing. He was neither +good-natured nor cruel, for he never remembered either good offices or +bad ones. He loved himself too well, which is natural to a sordid soul; +and feared himself too little, the true characteristic of those that have +no regard for their reputation. He foresaw an evil well enough, because +he was usually timid, but never applied a suitable remedy, because he had +more fear than wisdom. He had wit, indeed, together with a most +insinuating address and a gay, courtly behaviour; but a villainous heart +appeared constantly through all, to such a degree as betrayed him to be a +fool in adversity and a knave in prosperity. In short, he was the first +minister that could be called a complete trickster, for which reason his +administration, though successful and absolute, never sat well upon him, +for contempt--the most dangerous disease of any State--crept insensibly +into the Ministry and easily diffused its poison from the head to the +members. + +You will not wonder, therefore, that there were so many unlucky cross +rubs in an administration which so soon followed that of Cardinal de +Richelieu and was so different from it. It is certain that the +imprisonment of M. de Beaufort impressed the people with a respect for +Mazarin, which the lustre of his purple would never have procured from +private men. Ondedei (since Bishop of Frejus) told me that the Cardinal +jested with him upon the levity of the French nation on this point, and +that at the end of four months the Cardinal had set himself up in his own +opinion for a Richelieu, and even thought he had greater abilities. It +would take up volumes to record all his faults, the least of which were +very important in one respect which deserves a particular remark. As he +trod in the steps of Cardinal de Richelieu, who had completely abolished +all the ancient maxims of government, he went in a path surrounded with +precipices, which Richelieu was aware of and took care to avoid. But +Cardinal Mazarin made no use of those props by which Richelieu kept his +footing. For instance, though Cardinal de Richelieu affected to humble +whole bodies and societies, yet he studied to oblige individuals, which +is sufficient to give you an idea of all the rest. He had indeed some +unaccountable illusions, which he pushed to the utmost extremity. The +most dangerous kind of illusion in State affairs is a sort of lethargy +that never happens without showing pronounced symptoms. The abolishing +of ancient laws, the destruction of that golden medium which was +established between the Prince and the people, and the setting up a power +purely and absolutely despotic, were the original causes of those +political convulsions which shook France in the days of our forefathers. + +Cardinal de Richelieu managed the kingdom as mountebanks do their +patients, with violent remedies which put strength into it; but it was +only a convulsive strength, which exhausted its vital organs. Cardinal +Mazarin, like a very unskilful physician, did not observe that the vital +organs were decayed, nor had he the skill to support them by the chemical +preparations of his predecessor; his only remedy was to let blood, which +he drew so plentifully that the patient fell into a lethargy, and our +medicaster was yet so stupid as to mistake this lethargy for a real state +of health. The provinces, abandoned to the rapine of the +superintendents, were stifled, as it were, under the pressure of their +heavy misfortunes, and the efforts they made to shake them off in the +time of Richelieu added only to their weight and bitterness. The +Parliaments, which had so lately groaned under tyranny, were in a manner +insensible to present miseries by a too fresh and lively remembrance of +their past troubles. The grandees, who had for the most part been +banished from the kingdom, were glad to have returned, and therefore took +their fill of ease and pleasure. If our quack had but humoured this +universal indolence with soporifics, the general drowsiness might have +continued much longer, but thinking it to be nothing but natural sleep, +he applied no remedy at all. The disease gained strength, grew worse and +worse, the patient awakened, Paris became sensible of her condition; she +groaned, but nobody minded it, so that she fell into a frenzy, whereupon +the patient became raving mad. + +But now to come to particulars. Emeri, Superintendent of the Finances, +and in my opinion the most corrupt man of the age, multiplied edicts as +fast as he could find names to call them by. I cannot give you a better +idea of the man than by repeating what I heard him say in full +Council,--that faith was for tradesmen only, and that the Masters of +Requests who urged faith to be observed in the King's affairs deserved to +be punished. This man, who had in his youth been condemned to be hanged +at Lyons, absolutely governed Mazarin in all the domestic affairs of the +kingdom. I mention this, among many other instances which I could produce +of the same nature, to let you see that a nation does not feel the +extremity of misery till its governors have lost all shame, because that +is the instant when the subjects throw off all respect and awake +convulsively out of their lethargy. + +The Swiss seemed, as it were, crushed under the weight of their chains, +when three of their powerful cantons revolted and formed themselves into +a league. The Dutch thought of nothing but an entire subjection to the +tyrant Duke of Alva, when the Prince of Orange, by the peculiar destiny +of great geniuses, who see further into the future than all the world +besides, conceived a plan and restored their liberty. The reason of all +this is plain: that which causes a supineness in suffering States is the +duration of the evil, which inclines the sufferers to believe it will +never have an end; as soon as they have hopes of getting out of it, which +never fails when the evil has arrived at a certain pitch, they are so +surprised, so glad, and so transported, that they run all of a sudden +into the other extreme, and are so far from thinking revolutions +impossible that they suppose them easy, and such a disposition alone is +sometimes able to bring them about; witness the late revolution in +France. Who could have imagined, three months before the critical period +of our disorders, that such a revolution could have happened in a kingdom +where all the branches of the royal family were strictly united, where +the Court was a slave to the Prime Minister, where the capital city and +all the provinces were in subjection to him, where the armies were +victorious, and where the corporations and societies seemed to have no +power?--whoever, I say, had said this would have been thought a madman, +not only in the judgment of the vulgar, but in the opinion of a D'Estrees +or a Senneterre. + +In August, 1647, there was a mighty clamour against the tariff edict +imposing a general tax upon all provisions that came into Paris, which +the people were resolved to bear no longer. But the gentlemen of the +Council being determined to support it, the Queen consulted the members +deputed from Parliament, when Cardinal Mazarin, a mere ignoramus in these +affairs, said he wondered that so considerable a body as they were should +mind such trifles,--an expression truly worthy of Mazarin. However, the +Council at length imagining the Parliament would do it, thought fit to +suppress the tariff themselves by a declaration, in order to save the +King's credit. Nevertheless, a few days after, they presented five +edicts even more oppressive than the tariff, not with any hopes of having +them received, but to force the Parliament to restore the tariff. Rather +than admit the new ones, the Parliament consented to restore the old one, +but with so many qualifications that the Court, despairing to find their +account in it, published a decree of the Supreme Council annulling that +of the Parliament with all its modifications. But the Chamber of +Vacations answered it by another, enjoining the decree of Parliament to +be put in execution. The Council, seeing they could get no money by this +method, acquainted the Parliament that, since they would receive no new +edicts, they could do no less than encourage the execution of such edicts +as they had formerly ratified; and thereupon they trumped up a +declaration which had been registered two years before for the +establishment of the Chamber of Domain, which was a terrible charge upon +the people, had very pernicious consequences, and which the Parliament +had passed, either through a surprise or want of better judgment. The +people mutinied, went in crowds to the Palace, and used very abusive +language to the President de Thore, Emeri's son. The Parliament was +obliged to pass a decree against the mutineers. + +The Court, overjoyed to see the Parliament and the people together by the +ears, supported the decree by a regiment of French and Swiss Guards. The +Parisians were alarmed, and got into the belfries of three churches in +the street of Saint Denis, where the guards were posted. The Provost ran +to acquaint the Court that the city was just taking arms. Upon which +they ordered the troops to retire, and pretended they were posted there +for no other end than to attend the King as he went to the Church of +Notre Dame; and the better to cover their design, the King went next day +in great pomp to the said church, and the day after he went to +Parliament, without giving notice of his coming till very late the night +before, and carried with him five or six edicts more destructive than the +former. The First President spoke very boldly against bringing the King +into the House after this manner, to surprise the members and infringe +upon their liberty of voting. Next day the Masters of Requests, to whom +one of these edicts, confirmed in the King's presence, had added twelve +colleagues, met and took a firm resolution not to admit of this new +creation. The Queen sent for them, told them they were very pretty +gentlemen to oppose the King's will, and forbade them to come to Council. +Instead of being frightened, they were the more provoked, and, going into +the Great Hall, demanded that they might have leave to enter their +protest against the edict for creating new members, which was granted. + +The Chambers being assembled the same day to examine the edicts which the +King had caused to be ratified in his presence, the Queen commanded them +to attend her by their deputies in the Palais Royal, and told them she +was surprised that they pretended to meddle with what had been +consecrated by the presence of the King. These were the very words of +the Chancellor. The First President answered that it was the custom of +Parliament, and showed the necessity of it for preserving the liberty of +voting. The Queen seemed to be satisfied; but, finding some days after +that the Parliament was consulting as to qualifying those edicts, and so +render them of little or no use, she ordered the King's Council to forbid +the Parliament meddling with the King's edicts till they had declared +formally whether they intended to limit the King's authority. Those +members that were in the Court interest artfully took advantage of the +dilemma the Parliament was in to answer the question, and, in order to +mollify them, tacked a clause to the decrees which specified the +restrictions, namely, that all should be executed according to the good +pleasure of the King. This clause pleased the Queen for a while, but +when she perceived that it did not prevent the rejecting of almost any +other edict by the common suffrage of the Parliament, she flew into a +passion, and told them plainly that she would have all the edicts, +without exception, fully executed, without any modifications whatsoever. + +Not long after this, the Court of Aids, the Chamber of Accounts, the +Grand Council, and the Parliament formed a union which was pretended to +be for the reformation of the State, but was more probably calculated for +the private interest of the officers, whose salaries were lessened by one +of the said edicts. And the Court, being alarmed and utterly perplexed +by the decree for the said union, endeavoured, as much as in them lay, to +give it this turn, to make the people have a mean opinion of it. The +Queen acquainted the Parliament by some of the King's Council that, +seeing this union was entered into for the particular interest of the +companies, and not for the reformation of the State, as they endeavoured +to persuade her, she had nothing to say to it, as everybody is at liberty +to represent his case to the King, but never to intermeddle with the +government of the State. + +The Parliament did not relish this ensnaring discourse, and because they +were exasperated by the Court's apprehending some of the members of the +Grand Council, they thought of nothing but justifying and supporting +their decree of union by finding out precedents, which they accordingly +met with in the registers, and were going to consider how to put it in +execution when one of the Secretaries of State came to the bar of the +house, and put into the hands of the King's Council a decree of the +Supreme Council which, in very truculent terms, annulled that of the +union. Upon this the Parliament desired a meeting with the deputies of +the other three bodies, at which the Court was enraged, and had recourse +to the mean expedient of getting the very original decree of union out of +the hands of the chief registrar; for that end they sent the Secretary of +State and a lieutenant of the Guards, who put him into a coach to drive +him to the office, but the people perceiving it, were up in arms +immediately, and both the secretary and lieutenant were glad to get off. + +After this there was a great division in the Council, and some said the +Queen was disposed to arrest the Parliament; but none but herself was of +that opinion, which, indeed, was not likely to be acted upon, considering +how the people then stood affected. Therefore a more moderate course was +taken. The Chancellor reprimanded the Parliament in the presence of the +King and Court, and ordered a second decree of Council to be read and +registered instead of the union decree, forbidding them to assemble under +pain of being treated as rebels. They met, nevertheless, in defiance of +the said decree, and had several days' consultation, upon which the Duc +d'Orleans, who was very sensible they would never comply, proposed an +accommodation. Accordingly Cardinal Mazarin and the Chancellor made some +proposals, which were rejected with indignation. The Parliament affected +to be altogether concerned for the good of the public, and issued a +decree obliging themselves to continue their session and to make humble +remonstrances to the King for annulling the decrees of the Council. + +The King's Council having obtained audience of the Queen for the +Parliament, the First President strenuously urged the great necessity of +inviolably preferring that golden mean between the King and the subject; +proved that the Parliament had been for many ages in possession of full +authority to unite and assemble; complained against the annulling of +their decree of union, and concluded with a very earnest motion for +suppressing decrees of the Supreme Council made in opposition to theirs. +The Court, being moved more by the disposition of the people than by the +remonstrances of the Parliament, complied immediately, and ordered the +King's Council to acquaint the Parliament that the King would permit the +act of union to be executed, and that they might assemble and act in +concert with the other bodies for the good of the State. + +You may judge how the Cabinet was mortified, but the vulgar were much +mistaken in thinking that the weakness of Mazarin upon this occasion gave +the least blow to the royal authority. In that conjuncture it was +impossible for him to act otherwise, for if he had continued inflexible +on this occasion he would certainly have been reckoned a madman and +surrounded with barricades. He only yielded to the torrent, and yet most +people accused him of weakness. It is certain this affair brought him +into great contempt, and though he endeavoured to appease the people by +the banishment of Emeri, yet the Parliament, perceiving what ascendancy +they had over the Court, left no stone unturned to demolish the power of +this overgrown favourite. + +The Cardinal, made desperate by the failure of his stratagems to create +jealousy among the four bodies, and alarmed at a proposition which they +were going to make for cancelling all the loans made to the King upon +excessive interest,--the Cardinal, I say, being quite mad with rage and +grief at these disappointments, and set on by courtiers who had most of +their stocks in these loans, made the King go on horseback to the +Parliament House in great pomp, and carry a wheedling declaration with +him, which contained some articles very advantageous to the public, and a +great many others very ambiguous. But the people were so jealous of the +Court that he went without the usual acclamations. The declaration was +soon after censured by the Parliament and the other bodies, though the +Duc d'Orleans exhorted and prayed that they would not meddle with it, and +threatened them if they did. + +The Parliament also passed a decree declaring that no money should be +raised without verified declarations, which so provoked the Court that +they resolved to proceed to extremities, and to make use of the signal +victory which was obtained at Lens on the 24th of August, 1648, to dazzle +the eyes of the people and gain their consent to oppressing the +Parliament. + +All the humours of the State were so disturbed by the great troubles at +Paris, the fountainhead, that I foresaw a fever would be the certain +consequence, because the physician had not the skill to prevent it. As I +owed the coadjutorship of the archbishopric to the Queen, I thought it my +duty in every circumstance to sacrifice my resentment, and even the +probability of glory, to gratitude; and notwithstanding all the +solicitations of Montresor and Laigues, I made a firm resolution to stick +close to my own business and not to engage in anything that was either +said or done against the Court at that time. Montresor had been brought +up from his youth in the faction of the Duc d'Orleans, and, having more +wit than courage, was so much the more dangerous an adviser in great +affairs; men of this cast only suggest measures and leave them to be +executed by others. Laigues, on the other hand, who was entirely +governed by Montresor, had not much brains, but was all bravery and +feared nothing; men of this character dare do anything they are set upon +by those who confide in them. + +Finding that my innocence and integrity gained me no friends at Court, +and that I had nothing to expect from the Minister, who mortally hated +me, I resolved to be upon my guard, by acting in respect to the Court +with as much freedom as zeal and sincerity; and in respect to the city, +by carefully preserving my friends, and doing everything necessary to +get, or, rather, to keep, the love of the people. To maintain my +interest in the city, I laid out 36,000 crowns in alms and other +bounties, from the 26th of March to the 25th of August, 1648; and to +please the Court I told the Queen and Cardinal how the Parisians then +stood affected, which they never knew before, through flattery and +prejudice. I also complained to the Queen of the Cardinal's cunning and +dissimulation, and made use of the same intimations which I had given to +the Court to show the Parliament that I had done all in my power to +clearly inform the Ministry of everything and to disperse the clouds +always cast over their understandings by the interest of inferior +officers and the flattery of courtiers. This made the Cardinal break +with me and thwart me openly at every opportunity, insomuch that when I +was telling the Queen in his presence that the people in general were so +soured that nothing but lenitives could abate their rancour, he answered +me with the Italian fable of the wolf who swore to a flock of sheep that +he would protect them against all his comrades provided one of them would +come every morning and lick a wound he had received from a dog. He +entertained me with the like witticisms three or four months together, of +which this was one of the most favourable, whereupon I made these +reflections that it was more unbecoming a Minister of State to say silly +things than to do them, and that any advice given him was criminal. + +The Cardinal pretended that the success of the King's arms at Lens had so +mortified the Court that the Parliament and the other bodies, who +expected they would take a sharp revenge on them for their late conduct, +would have the great satisfaction of being disappointed. I own I was +fool enough to believe him, and was perfectly transported at the thought; +but with what sincerity the Cardinal spoke will appear by and by. + +On the 26th of August, 1648, the worthy Broussel, councillor of the Grand +Chamber, and Rene Potier, Sieur de Blancmenil, President of the Inquests, +were both arrested by the Queen's officers. It is impossible to express +the sudden consternation of all men, women, and children in Paris at this +proceeding. The people stared at one another for awhile without saying a +word. But this profound silence was suddenly attended with a confused +noise of running, crying, and shutting up of shops, upon which I thought +it my duty to go and wait upon the Queen, though I was sorely vexed to +see how my credulity had been abused but the night before at Court, when +I was desired to tell all my friends in Parliament that the victory of +Lens had only disposed the Court more and more to leniency and +moderation. When I came to the New Market, on my way to Court, I was +surrounded with swarms of people making a frightful outcry, and had great +difficulty in getting through the crowd till I had told them the Queen +would certainly do them justice. The very boys hissed the soldiers of +the Guard and pelted them with stones. Their commander, the Marechal de +La Meilleraye, perceiving the clouds began to thicken on all sides, was +overjoyed to see me, and would go with me to Court and tell the whole +truth of the matter to the Queen. The people followed us in vast +numbers, calling out, "Broussel, Broussel!" + +The Queen, whom we found in her Cabinet Council with Mazarin and others, +received me neither well nor ill, was too proud and too much out of +temper to confess any shame for what she had told me the night before, +and the Cardinal had not modesty enough to blush. Nevertheless he seemed +very much confused, and gave some obscure hints by which I could perceive +he would have me to believe that there were very sudden and extraordinary +reasons which had obliged the Queen to take such measures. I simulated +approval of what he said, but all the answer I returned was that I had +come thither, as in duty bound, to receive the Queen's orders and to +contribute all in my power to restore the public peace and tranquillity. +The Queen gave a gracious nod, but I understood afterwards that she put a +sinister interpretation upon my last speech, which was nevertheless very +inoffensive and perfectly consonant to my character as Coadjutor of +Paris; but it is a true saying that in the Courts of princes a capacity +of doing good is as dangerous and almost as criminal as a will to do +mischief. + +The Marechal de La Meilleraye, finding that the Abbe de la Riviere and +others made mere jest and banter of the insurrection, fell into a great +passion, spoke very sharply, and appealed to me. I freely gave my +testimony, confirmed his account of the insurrection, and seconded him in +his reflections upon the future consequences. We had no other return +from the Cardinal than a malicious sneer, but the Queen lifted up her +shrill voice to the highest note of indignation, and expressed herself to +this effect: "It is a sign of disaffection to imagine that the people are +capable of revolting. These are ridiculous stories that come from +persons who talk as they would have it; the King's authority will set +matters right." + +The Cardinal, perceiving that I was a little nettled, endeavoured to +soothe me by this address to the Queen: "Would to God, madame, that all +men did but talk with the same sincerity as the Coadjutor of Paris. He +is greatly concerned for his flock, for the city, and for your Majesty's +authority, and though I am persuaded that the danger is not so great as +he imagines, yet his scruples in this case are to be commended in him as +laudable and religious." The Queen understood the meaning of this cant, +recovered herself all of a sudden, and spoke to me very civilly; to which +I answered with profound respect and so innocent a countenance that La +Riviere said, whispering to Beautru, "See what it is not to be always at +Court! The Coadjutor knows the world and is a man of sense, yet takes +all the Queen has said to be in earnest." + +The truth is, the Cabinet seemed to consist of persons acting the several +parts of a comedy. I played the innocent, but was not so, at least in +that affair. The Cardinal acted the part of one who thought himself +secure, but was much less confident than he appeared. The Queen affected +to be good-humoured, and yet was never more ill-tempered. M. de +Longueville put on the marks of sorrow and sadness while his heart leaped +for joy, for no man living took a greater pleasure than he to promote all +broils. The Duc d'Orleans personated hurry and, passion in speaking to +the Queen, yet would whistle half an hour together with the utmost +indolence. The Marechal de Villeroy put on gaiety, the better to make +his court to the Prime Minister, though he privately owned to me, with +tears in his eyes, that he saw the State was upon the brink of ruin. +Beautru and Nogent acted the part of buffoons, and to please the Queen, +personated old Broussel's nurse (for he was eighty years of age), +stirring up the people to sedition, though both of them knew well enough +that their farce might perhaps soon end in a real tragedy. + +The Abby de la Riviere was the only man who pretended to be fully +persuaded that the insurrection of the people was but vapour, and he +maintained it to the Queen, who was willing to believe him, though she +had been satisfied to the contrary; and the conduct of the Queen, who had +the courage of a heroine, and the temper of La Riviere, who was the most +notorious poltroon of his time, furnished me with this remark: That a +blind rashness and an extravagant fear produce the same effects while the +danger is unknown. + +The Marechal de La Meilleraye assumed the style and bravado of a captain +when a lieutenant-colonel of the Guards suddenly came to tell the Queen +that the citizens threatened to force the Guards, and, being naturally +hasty and choleric, was transported even with fury and madness. He cried +out that he would perish rather than suffer such insolence, and asked +leave to take the Guards, the officers of the Household, and even all the +courtiers he could find in the antechambers, with whom he would engage to +rout the whole mob. The Queen was greatly in favour of it, but nobody +else, and events proved that it was well they did not come into it. At +the same time entered the Chancellor, a man who had never spoken a word +of truth in his whole life; but now, his complaisance yielding to his +fear, he spoke directly according to what he had seen in the streets. I +observed that the Cardinal was startled at the boldness of a man in whom +he had never seen anything like it before. But Senneterre, coming in +just after him, removed all their apprehensions in a trice by assuring +them that the fury of the people began to cool, that they did not take +arms, and that with a little patience all would be well again. + +There is nothing so dangerous as flattery at a juncture where he that is +flattered is in fear, because the desire he has not to be terrified +inclines him to believe anything that hinders him from applying any +remedy to what he is afraid of. The news that was brought every moment +made them trifle away that time which should have been employed for the +preservation of the State. Old Guitaut, a man of no great sense, but +heartily well affected, was more impatient than all the rest, and said +that he did not conceive how it was possible for people to be asleep in +the present state of affairs; he muttered something more which I could +not well hear, but it seemed to bear very hard upon the Cardinal, who +owed him no goodwill. + +The Cardinal answered, "Well, M. Guitaut, what would you have us do?" + +Guitaut said, very bluntly, "Let the old rogue Broussel be restored to +the people, either dead or alive." + +I said that to restore him dead was inconsistent with the Queen's piety +and prudence, but to restore him alive would probably put a stop to the +tumult. + +At these words the Queen reddened, and cried aloud, "I understand you, M. +le Coadjutor. You would have me set Broussel at liberty; but I will +strangle him sooner with these hands,"--throwing her head as it were into +my face at the last word, "and those who--" + +The Cardinal, believing that she was going to say all to me that rage +could inspire, advanced and whispered in her ear, upon which she became +composed to such a degree that, had I not known her too well, I should +have thought her at her ease. The lieutenant de police came that instant +into the Cabinet with a deadly pale aspect. I never saw fear so well and +ridiculously represented in any Italian comedy as the fright which he +appeared in before the Queen. How admirable is the sympathy of fearful +souls! Neither the Cardinal nor the Queen were much moved at what M. de +La Meilleraye had strongly urged on them, but the fears of the lieutenant +seized them like an infection, so that they were all on a sudden +metamorphosed. They ridiculed me no longer, and suffered it to be +debated whether or no it was expedient to restore Broussel to the people +before they took arms, as they had threatened to do. Here I reflected +that it is more natural to the passion of fear to consult than to +determine. + +The Cardinal proposed that I, as the fittest person, should go and assure +the people that the Queen would consent to the restoration of Broussel, +provided they would disperse. I saw the snare, but could not get away +from it, the rather because Meilleraye dragged me, as it were, to go +along with him,--telling her Majesty that he would dare to appear in the +streets in my company, and that he did not question but we should do +wonders. I said that I did not doubt it either, provided the Queen would +order a promise to be drawn in due form for restoring the prisoners, +because I had not credit enough with the people to be believed upon my +bare word. They praised my modesty, Meilleraye was assured of success, +and they said the Queen's word was better than all writings whatsoever. +In a word, I was made the catspaw, and found myself under the necessity +of acting the most ridiculous part that perhaps ever fell to any man's +share. I endeavoured to reply; but the Duc d'Orleans pushed me out +gently with both hands, saying, "Go and restore peace to the State;" and +the Marshal hurried me away, the Life-guards carrying me along in their +arms, and telling me that none but myself could remedy this evil. I went +out in my rochet and camail, dealing out benedictions to the people on my +right and left, preaching obedience, exerting all my endeavours to +appease the tumult, and telling them the Queen had assured me that, +provided they would disperse, she would restore Broussel. + +The violence of the Marshal hardly gave me time to express myself, for he +instantly put himself at the head of the Horse-guards, and, advancing +sword in hand, cried aloud, "God bless the King, and liberty to +Broussel!" but being seen more than he was heard, his drawn sword did +more harm than his proclaiming liberty to Broussel did good. The people +took to their arms and had an encounter with the Marshal, upon which I +threw myself into the crowd, and expecting that both sides would have +some regard to my robes and dignity, the Marshal ordered the Light-horse +to fire no more, and the citizens with whom he was engaged held their +hands; but others of them continued firing and throwing stones, by one of +which I was knocked down, and had no sooner got up than a citizen was +going to knock me down with a musket. Though I did not know his name, +yet I had the presence of mind to cry out, "Forbear, wretch; if thy +father did but see thee--" He thereupon concluded I knew his father very +well, though I had never seen him; and I believe that made him the more +curious to survey me, when, taking particular notice of my robes, he +asked me if I was the Coadjutor. Upon which I was presently made known +to the whole body, followed by the multitude which way soever I went, and +met with a body of ruffians all in arms, whom, with abundance of +flattery, caresses, entreaties, and menaces, I prevailed on to lay down +their weapons; and it was this which saved the city, for had they +continued in arms till night, the city had certainly been plundered. + +I went accompanied by 30,000 or 40,000 men without arms, and met the +Marechal de La Meilleraye, who I thought would have stifled me with +embraces, and who said these very words: "I am foolhardy and brutal; I +had like to have ruined the State, and you have saved it; come, let us go +to the Queen and talk to her like true, honest Frenchmen; and let us set +down the day of the month, that when the King comes of age our testimony +may be the means of hanging up those pests of the State, those infamous +flatterers, who pretended to the Queen that this affair was but a +trifle." To the Queen he presently hurried me, and said to her, "Here is +a man that has not only saved my life, but your Guards and the whole +Court." + +The Queen gave an odd smile which I did not very well like, but I would +not seem to take any notice of it, and to stop Meilleraye in his encomium +upon me, I assumed the discourse myself, and said, "Madame, we are not +come upon my account, but to tell you that the city of Paris, disarmed +and submissive, throws herself at your Majesty's feet." + +"Not so submissive as guilty," replied the Queen, with a face full of +fire; "if the people were so raging as I was made to believe, how came +they to be so soon subdued?" + +The Marshal fell into a passion, and said, with an oath, "Madame, an +honest man cannot flatter you when things are come to such an extremity. +If you do not set Broussel at liberty this very day, there will not be +left one stone upon another in Paris by tomorrow morning." + +I was going to support what the Marshal had said, but the Queen stopped +my mouth by telling me, with an air of banter, "Go to rest, sir; you have +done a mighty piece of work." + +When I returned home, I found an incredible number of people expecting +me, who forced me to get upon the top of my coach to give them an account +of what success I had had at Court. I told them that the Queen had +declared her satisfaction in their submission, and that she told me it +was the only method they could have taken for the deliverance of the +prisoners. I added other persuasives to pacify the commonalty, and they +dispersed the sooner because it was supper-time; for you must know that +the people of Paris, even those that are the busiest in all such +commotions, do not care to lose their meals. + +I began to perceive that I had engaged my reputation too far in giving +the people any grounds to hope for the liberation of Broussel, though I +had particularly avoided giving them my word of honour, and I apprehended +that the Court would lay hold of this occasion to destroy me effectually +in the opinion of the people by making them believe that I acted in +concert with the Court only, to amuse and deceive them. + +While I was making these and the like reflections, Montresor came and +told me that I was quite mistaken if I thought to be a great gainer by +the late expedition; that the Queen was not pleased with my proceedings, +and that the Court was persuaded that I did what lay in my power to +promote the insurrection. I confess I gave no credit to what Montresor +said, for though I saw they made a jest of me in the Queen's Cabinet, I +hoped that their malice did not go so far as to diminish the merit of the +service I had rendered, and never imagined that they could be capable of +turning it into a crime. Laigues, too, came from Court and told me that +I was publicly laughed at, and charged with having fomented the +insurrection instead of appeasing it; that I had been ridiculed two whole +hours and exposed to the smart raillery of Beautru, to the buffoonery of +Nogent, to the pleasantries of La Riviere, to the false compassion of the +Cardinal, and to the loud laughter of the Queen. + +You may guess that I was not a little moved at this, but I rather felt a +slight annoyance than any transport of passion. All sorts of notions +came into my mind, and all as suddenly passed away. I sacrificed with +little or no scruple all the sweetest and brightest images which the +memory of past conspiracies presented in crowds to my mind as soon as the +ill-treatment I now publicly met with gave me reason to think that I +might with honour engage myself in new ones. The obligations I had to +her Majesty made me reject all these thoughts, though I must confess I +was brought up in them from my infancy, and Laigues and Montresor could +have never shaken my resolution either by insinuating motives or making +reproaches, if Argenteuil, a gentleman firmly attached to my interest, +had not come into my room that moment with a frightened countenance and +said: + +"You are undone; the Marechal de La Meilleraye has charged me to tell you +that he verily thinks the devil is in the courtiers, who has put it into +their heads that you have done all in your power to stir up the sedition. +The Marechal de La Meilleraye has laboured earnestly to inform the Queen +and Cardinal of the truth of the whole matter, but both have ridiculed +him for his attempt. The Marshal said he could not excuse the injury +they did you, but could not sufficiently admire the contempt they always +had for the tumult, of which they foretold the consequence as if they had +the gift of prophecy, always affirming that it would vanish in a night, +as it really has, for he hardly met a soul in the streets." + +He added that fires so quickly extinguished as this were not likely to +break out again; that he conjured me to provide for my own safety; that +the King's authority would shine out the next day with all the lustre +imaginable; that the Court seemed resolved not to let slip this fatal +conjuncture, and that I was to be made the first public example. + +Argenteuil said: "Villeroy did not tell me so much, because he durst not; +but he so squeezed my hand 'en passant' that I am apt to think he knows a +great deal more, and I must tell you that they have very good reason for +their apprehensions, because there is not a soul to be seen in the +streets, and to-morrow they may take up whom they list." + +Montresor, who would be thought to know all things beforehand, said that +he was assured it would be so and that he had foretold it. Laigues +bewailed my conduct, which he said had raised the compassion of all my +friends, although it had been their ruin. Upon this I desired to be left +about a quarter of an hour to myself, during which, reflecting how I had +been provoked and the public threatened, my scruples vanished; I gave +rein to all my thoughts, recollected that all the glorious ideas which +have ever entered my imagination were most concerned with vast designs, +and suffered my mind to be regaled with the pleasing hopes of being the +head of a party, a position which I had always admired in Plutarch's +"Lives." The inconsistency of my scheme with my character made me +tremble. A world of incidents may happen when the virtues in the leader +of a party may be vices in an archbishop. I had this view a thousand +times, and it always gave place to the duty I thought I owed to her +Majesty, but the remembrance of what had passed at the Queen's table, and +the resolution there taken to ruin me with the public, having banished +all scruples, I joyfully determined to abandon my destiny to all the +impulses of glory. I said to my friends that the whole Court was witness +of the harsh treatment I had met with for above a year in the King's +palace, and I added: "The public is engaged to defend my honour, but the +public being now about to be sacrificed, I am obliged to defend it +against oppression. Our circumstances are not so bad as you imagine, +gentlemen, and before twelve o'clock to-morrow I shall be master of +Paris." + +My two friends thought I was mad, and began to counsel moderation, +whereas before they always incited me to action; but I did not give them +hearing. I immediately sent for Miron, Accountant-General, one of the +city colonels, a man of probity and courage, and having great interest +with the people. I consulted with him, and he executed his commission +with so much discretion and bravery that above four hundred considerable +citizens were posted up and down in platoons with no more noise and stir +than if so many Carthusian novices had been assembled for contemplation. +After having given orders for securing certain gates and bars of the +city, I went to sleep, and was told next morning that no soldiers had +appeared all night, except a few troopers, who just took a view of the +platoons of the citizens and then galloped off. Hence it was inferred +that our precautions had prevented the execution of the design formed +against particular persons, but it was believed there was some mischief +hatching at the Chancellor's against the public, because sergeants were +running backwards and forwards, and Ondedei went thither four times in +two hours. + +Being informed soon after that the Chancellor was going to the Palace +with all the pomp of magistracy, and that two companies of Swiss Guards +approached the suburbs, I gave my orders in two words, which were +executed in two minutes. Miron ordered the citizens to take arms, and +Argenteuil, disguised as a mason, with a rule in his hand, charged the +Swiss in flank, killed twenty or thirty, dispersed the rest, and took one +of their colours. The Chancellor, hemmed in on every side, narrowly +escaped with his life to the Hotel d'O, which the people broke open, +rushed in with fury, and, as God would have it, fell immediately to +plundering, so that they forgot to force open a little chamber where both +the Chancellor and his brother, the Bishop of Meaux, to whom he was +confessing, lay concealed. The news of this occurrence ran like +wild-fire through the whole city. Men and women were immediately up in +arms, and mothers even put daggers into the hands of their children. In +less than two hours there were erected above two hundred barricades, +adorned with all the standards and colours that the League had left +entire. All the cry was, "God bless the King!" sometimes, "God bless +the Coadjutor!" and the echo was, "No Mazarin!" + +The Queen sent her commands to me to use my interest to appease the +tumult. I answered the messenger, very coolly, that I had forfeited my +credit with the people on account of yesterday's transactions, and that I +did not dare to go abroad. The messenger had heard the cry of "God bless +the Coadjutor!" and would fain have persuaded me that I was the +favourite of the people, but I strove as much to convince him of the +contrary. + +The Court minions of the two last centuries knew not what they did when +they reduced that effectual regard which kings ought to have for their +subjects into mere style and form; for there are, as you see, certain +conjunctures in which, by a necessary consequence, subjects make a mere +form also of the real obedience which they owe to their sovereigns. + +The Parliament hearing the cries of the people for Broussel, after having +ordered a decree against Cominges, lieutenant of the Queen's Guards, who +had arrested him, made it death for all who took the like commissions for +the future, and decreed that an information should be drawn up against +those who had given that advice, as disturbers of the public peace. Then +the Parliament went in a body, in their robes, to the Queen, with the +First President at their head, and amid the acclamations of the people, +who opened all their barricades to let them pass. The First President +represented to the Queen, with becoming freedom, that the royal word had +been prostituted a thousand times over by scandalous and even childish +evasions, defeating resolutions most useful and necessary for the State. +He strongly exaggerated the mighty danger of the State from the city +being all in arms; but the Queen, who feared nothing because she knew +little, flew into a passion and raved like a fury, saying, "I know too +well that there is an uproar in the city, but you Parliamentarians, +together with your wives and children, shall be answerable for it all;" +and with that she retired into another chamber and shut the door after +her with violence. The members, who numbered about one hundred and +sixty, were going down-stairs; but the First President persuaded them to +go up and try the Queen once more, and meeting with the Duc d'Orleans, +he, with a great deal of persuasion, introduced twenty of them into the +presence-chamber, where the First President made another effort with the +Queen, by setting forth the terrors of the enraged metropolis up in arms, +but she would hear nothing, and went into the little gallery. + +Upon this the Cardinal advanced and proposed to surrender the prisoner, +provided the Parliament would promise to hold no more assemblies. They +were going to consider this proposal upon the spot, but, thinking that +the people would be inclined to believe that the Parliament had been +forced if they gave their votes at the Palais Royal, they resolved to +adjourn to their own House. + +The Parliament, returning and saying nothing about the liberation of +Broussel, were received by the people with angry murmurs instead of with +loud acclamations. They appeased those at the first two barricades by +telling them that the Queen had promised them satisfaction; but those at +the third barricade would not be paid in that coin, for a journeyman +cook, advancing with two hundred men, pressed his halberd against the +First President, saying, "Go back, traitor, and if thou hast a mind to +save thy life, bring us Broussel, or else Mazarin and the Chancellor as +hostages." + +Upon this five presidents 'au mortier' and about twenty councillors fell +back into the crowd to make their escape; the First President only, the +most undaunted man of the age, continued firm and intrepid. He rallied +the members as well as he could, maintaining still the authority of a +magistrate, both in his words and behaviour, and went leisurely back to +the King's palace, through volleys of abuse, menaces, curses, and +blasphemies. He had a kind of eloquence peculiar to himself, knew +nothing of interjections, was not very exact in his speech, but the force +of it made amends for that; and being naturally bold, never spoke so well +as when he was in danger, insomuch that when he returned to the Palace he +even outdid himself, for it is certain that he moved the hearts of all +present except the Queen, who continued inflexible. The Duc d'Orleans +was going to throw himself at her feet, which four or five Princesses, +trembling with fear, actually did. The Cardinal, whom a young councillor +jestingly advised to go out into the streets and see how the people stood +affected, did at last join with the bulk of the Court, and with much ado +the Queen condescended to bid the members go and consult what was fitting +to be done, agreed to set the prisoners at liberty, restored Broussel to +the people, who carried him upon their heads with loud acclamations, +broke down their barricades, opened their shops, and in two hours Paris +was more quiet than ever I saw it upon a Good Friday. + +As to the primum mobile of this revolution, it was owing to no other +cause than a deviation from the laws, which so alters the opinions of the +people that many times a faction is formed before the change is so much +as perceived. + +This little reflection, with what has been said, may serve to confute +those who pretend that a faction without a head is never to be feared. It +grows up sometimes in a night. The commotion I have been speaking of, +which was so violent and lasting, did not appear to have any leader for a +whole year; but at last there rose up in one moment a much greater number +than was necessary for the party. + +The morning after the barricades were removed, the Queen sent for me, +treated me with all the marks of kindness and confidence, said that if +she had hearkened to me she would not have experienced the late +disquietness; that the Cardinal was not to blame for it, but that +Chavigni had been the sole cause of her misfortunes, to whose pernicious +counsels she had paid more deference than to the Cardinal. "But; good +God!" she suddenly exclaimed, "will you not get that rogue Beautru +soundly thrashed, who has paid so little respect to your character? The +poor Cardinal was very near having it done the other night." I received +all this with more respect than credulity. She commanded me to go to the +poor Cardinal, to comfort him, and to advise him as to the best means of +quieting the populace. + +I went without any scruple. He embraced me with a tenderness I am not +able to express, said there was not an honest man in France but myself, +and that all the rest were infamous flatterers, who had misled the Queen +in spite of all his and my good counsels. He protested that he would do +nothing for the future without my advice, showed me the foreign +despatches, and, in short, was so affable, that honest Broussel, who was +likewise present upon his invitation, for all his harmless simplicity, +laughed heartily as we were going out, and said that it was all mere +buffoonery. + +There being a report that the King was to be removed by the Court from +Paris, the Queen assured the 'prevot des marchands' that it was false, +and yet the very next day carried him to Ruel. From there I doubted not +that she designed to surprise the city, which seemed really astonished at +the King's departure, and I found the hottest members of the Parliament +in great consternation, and the more so because news arrived at the same +time that General Erlac--[He was Governor of Brisac, and commanded the +forces of the Duke of Weimar after the Duke's death]--had passed the +Somme with 4,000 Germans. Now, as in general disturbances one piece of +bad news seldom comes singly, five or six stories of this kind were +published at the same time, which made me think I should find it as +difficult a task to raise the spirits of the people as I had before to +restrain them. I was never so nonplussed in all my life. I saw the full +extent of the danger, and everything looked terrible. Yet the greatest +perils have their charms if never so little glory is discovered in the +prospect of ill-success, while the least dangers have nothing but horror +when defeat is attended with loss of reputation. + +I used all the arguments I could to dissuade the Parliament from making +the Court desperate, at least till they had thought of some expedients to +defend themselves from its insults, to which they would inevitably have +been exposed if the Court had taken time by the forelock, in which, +perhaps, they were prevented by the unexpected return of the Prince de +Conti. I hereupon formed a resolution which gave me a great deal of +uneasiness, but which was firm, because it was the only resolution I had +to take. Extremities are always disagreeable, but are the wisest means +when absolutely necessary; the best of it is that they admit of no middle +course, and if peradventure they are good, they are always decisive. + +Fortune favoured my design. The Queen ordered Chavigni to be sent +prisoner to Havre-de-Grace. I embraced this opportunity to stir up the +natural fears of his dear friend Viole, by telling him that he was a +ruined man for doing what he had done at the instigation of Chavigni; +that it was plain the King left Paris with a view to attack it, and that +he saw as well as I how much the people were dejected; that if their +spirits should be quite sunk they could never be raised; that they must +be supported; that I would influence the people; and that he should do +what he could with the Parliament, who, in my opinion, ought not to be +supine, but to be awakened at a juncture when the King's departure had +perfectly drowned their senses, adding that a word in season would +infallibly produce this good effect. + +Accordingly Viole struck one of the boldest strokes that has perhaps been +heard of. He told the Parliament that it was reported Paris was to be +besieged; that troops were marching for that end, and the most faithful +servants of his late Majesty, who, it was suspected, would oppose designs +so pernicious, would be put in chains; that it was necessary for them to +address the Queen to bring the King back to Paris; and forasmuch as the +author of all these mischiefs was well known, he moved further that the +Duc d'Orleans and the officers of the Crown should be desired to come to +Parliament to deliberate upon the decree issued in 1617, on account of +Marechal d'Ancre, forbidding foreigners to intermeddle in the Government. +We thought ourselves that we had touched too high a key, but a lower note +would not have awakened or kept awake men whom fear had perfectly +stupefied. I have observed that this passion of fear has seldom that +influence upon individuals that it generally has upon the mass. + +Viole's proposition at first startled, then rejoiced, and afterwards +animated those that heard it. Blancmenil, who before seemed to have no +life left in him, had now the courage to point at the Cardinal by name, +who hitherto had been described only by the designation of Minister; and +the Parliament cheerfully agreed to remonstrate with the Queen, according +to Viole's proposition, not forgetting to pray her Majesty to remove the +troops further from Paris, and not to send for the magistrates to take +orders for the security of the city. + +The President Coigneux whispered to me, saying, "I have no hopes but in +you; we shall be undone if you do not work underground." I sat up +accordingly all night to prepare instructions for Saint-Ibal to treat +with the Count Fuensaldagne, and oblige him to march with the Spanish +army, in case of need, to our assistance, and was just going to send him +away to Brussels when M. de Chatillon, my friend and kinsman, who +mortally hated the Cardinal, came to tell me that the Prince de Conde +would be the next day at Ruel; that the Prince was enraged against the +Cardinal, and was sure he would ruin the State if he were let alone, and +that the Cardinal held a correspondence in cipher with a fellow in the +Prince's army whom he had corrupted, to be informed of everything done +there to his prejudice. By all this I learnt that the Prince had no +great understanding with the Court, and upon his arrival at Ruel I +ventured to go thither. + +Both the Queen and the Cardinal were extremely civil, and the latter took +particular notice of the Prince's behaviour to me, who embraced me 'en +passant' in the garden, and spoke very low to me, saying that he would be +at my house next day. He kept his word, and desired me to give him an +account of the state of affairs, and when I had done so we agreed that I +should continue to push the Cardinal by means of the Parliament; that I +should take his Highness by night incognito to Longueil and Broussel, to +assure them they should not want assistance; that the Prince de Conde +should give the Queen all the marks of his respect for and attachment to +her, and make all possible reparation for the dissatisfaction he had +shown with regard to the Cardinal, that he might thereby insinuate +himself into the Queen's favour, and gradually dispose her to receive and +fallow his counsels and hear truths against which she had always stopped +her ears, and that by thus letting the Cardinal drop insensibly, rather +than fall suddenly, the Prince would find himself master of the Cabinet +with the Queer's approbation, and, with the assistance of his humble +servants in Council, arbiter of the national welfare. + +The Queen, who went away from Paris to give her troops an opportunity to +starve and attack the city, told the deputies sent by Parliament to +entreat her to restore the King to Paris that she was extremely surprised +and astonished; that the King used every year at that season to take the +air, and that his health was much more to be regarded than the imaginary +fears of the people. The Prince de Conde, coming in at this juncture, +told the President and councillors, who invited him to take his seat in +Parliament, that he would not come, but obey the Queen though it should +prove his ruin. The Duc d'Orleans said that he would not be there +either, because the Parliament had made such proposals as were too bold +to be endured, and the Prince de Conti spoke after the same manner. + +The next day the King's Council carried an order of Council to Parliament +to put a stop to their debates against foreigners being in the Ministry. +This so excited the Parliament that they made a remonstrance in writing, +instructed the 'prevot des marchands' to provide for the safety of the +city, ordered all other governors to keep the passages free, and resolved +next day to continue the debate against foreign ministers. I laboured +all night to ward off the fatal blow, which I was afraid would hurry the +Prince, against his will, into the arms of the Court. But when next day +came, the members inflamed one another before they sat, through the +cursed spirit of formality, and the very men who two days ago were all +fear and trembling were suddenly transported, they knew not why, from a +well-grounded fear to a blind rage, so that without reflecting that the +General had arrived whose very name made them tremble, because they +suspected him to be in the interest of the Court, they issued the said +decree, which obliged the Queen to send the Duc d'Anjou,--[Philippe of +France, only brother to King Louis XIV., afterwards Duc d'Orleans, died +suddenly at St. Cloud, in 1701.]--but just recovered from the smallpox, +and the Duchesse d'Orleans, much indisposed, out of town. + +This would have begun a civil war next day had not the Prince de Conde +taken the wisest measures imaginable, though he had a very bad opinion of +the Cardinal, both upon the public account and his own, and was as little +pleased with the conduct of the Parliament, with whom there was no +dealing, either as a body or as private persons. The Prince kept an even +pace between the Court and country factions, and he said these words to +me, which I can never forget: + +"Mazarin does not know what he is doing, and will ruin the State if care +be not taken; the Parliament really goes on too fast, as you said they +would; if they did but manage according to our scheme, we should be able +to settle our own business and that of the public, too; they act with +precipitation, and were I to do so, it is probable I should gain more by +it than they. But I am Louis de Bourbon, and will not endanger the +State. Are those devils in square caps mad to force me either to begin a +civil war tomorrow or to ruin every man of them, and set over our heads a +Sicilian vagabond who will destroy us all at last?" + +In fine, the Prince proposed to set out immediately for Ruel to divert +the Court from their project of attacking Paris, and to propose to the +Queen that the Duc d'Orleans and himself should write to the Parliament +to send deputies to confer about means to relieve the necessities of the +State. The Prince saw that I was so overcome at this proposal that he +said to me with tenderness, "How different you are from the man you are +represented to be at Court! Would to God that all those rogues in the +Ministry were but as well inclined as you!" + +I told the Prince that, considering how the minds of the Parliament were +embittered, I doubted whether they would care to confer with the +Cardinal; that his Highness would gain a considerable point if he could +prevail with the Court not to insist upon the necessity of the Cardinal's +presence, because then all the honour of the arrangement, in which the +Duc d'Orleans, as usual, would only be as a cipher, would redound to him, +and that such exclusion of the Cardinal would disgrace his Ministry to +the last degree, and be a very proper preface to the blow which the +Prince designed to give him in the Cabinet. + +The Prince profited by the hint, so that the Parliament returned answer +that they would send deputies to confer with the Princes only, which last +words the Prince artfully laid hold of and advised Mazarin not to expose +himself by coming to the conference against the Parliament's consent, but +rather, like a wise man, to make a virtue of the present necessity. This +was a cruel blow to the Cardinal, who ever since the decease of the late +King had been recognised as Prime Minister of France; and the +consequences were equally disastrous. + +The deputies being accordingly admitted to a conference with the Duc +d'Orleans, the Princes de Conde and Conti and M. de Longueville, the +First President, Viole, who had moved in Parliament that the decree might +be renewed for excluding foreigners from the Ministry, inveighed against +the imprisonment of M. de Chavigni; who was no member, yet the President +insisted upon his being set at liberty, because, according to the laws of +the realm, no person ought to be detained in custody above twenty-four +hours without examination. This occasioned a considerable debate, and +the Duc d'Orldans, provoked at this expression, said that the President's +aim was to cramp the royal authority. Nevertheless the latter vigorously +maintained his argument, and was unanimously seconded by all the +deputies, for which they were next day applauded in Parliament. In +short, the thing was pushed so far that the Queen was obliged to consent +to a declaration that for the future no man whatever should be detained +in prison above three days without being examined. By this means +Chavigni was set at liberty. Several other conferences were held, in +which the Chancellor treated the First President of the Parliament with a +sort of contempt that was almost brutal. Nevertheless the Parliament +carried all before them. + +In October, 1648, the Parliament adjourned, and the Queen soon after +returned to Paris with the King. + +The Cardinal, who aimed at nothing more than to ruin my credit with the +people, sent me 4,000 crowns as a present from the Queen, for the +services which she said I intended her on the day of the barricade; and +who, think you, should be the messenger to bring it but my friend the +Marechal de La Meilleraye, the man who before warned me of the sinister +intentions of the Court, and who now was so credulous as to believe that +I was their favourite, because the Cardinal was pleased to say how much +he was concerned for the injustice he had done me; which I only mention +to remark that those people over whom the Court has once got an +ascendency cannot help believing whatever they would have them believe, +and the ministers only are to blame if they do not deceive them. But I +would not be persuaded by the Marshal as he had been by the Cardinal, and +therefore I refused the said sum very civilly, and, I am sure, with as +much sincerity as the Court offered it. + +But the Cardinal laid another trap for me that I was not aware of,--by +tempting me with the proffer of the Government of Paris; and when I had +shown a willingness to accept it, he found means to break off the treaty +I was making for that purpose with the Prince de Guemende, who had the +reversion of it, and then represented me to the people as one who only +sought my own interest. Instead of profiting by this blunder, which I +might have done to my own advantage, I added another to it, and said all +that rage could prompt me against the Cardinal to one who told it to him +again. + +To return now to public affairs. About the feast of Saint Martin the +people were so excited that they seemed as if they had been all +intoxicated with gathering in the vintage; and you are now going to be +entertained with scenes in comparison to which the past are but trifles. + +There is no affair but has its critical minute, which a bold +statesmanship knows how to lay hold of, and which, if missed, especially +in the revolution of kingdoms, you run the great risk of losing +altogether. + +Every one now found their advantage in the declaration,--that is, if they +understood their own interest. The Parliament had the honour of +reestablishing public order. The Princes, too, had their share in this +honour, and the first-fruits of it, which were respect and security. The +people had a considerable comfort in it, by being eased of a load of +above sixty millions; and if the Cardinal had had but the sense to make a +virtue of necessity, which is one of the most necessary qualifications of +a minister of State, he might, by an advantage always inseparable from +favourites, have appropriated to himself the greatest part of the merit, +even of those things he had most opposed. + +But these advantages were all lost through the most trivial +considerations. The people, upon the discontinuation of the +Parliamentary assemblies, resumed their savage temper, and were scared by +the approach of a few troops at which it was ridiculous to take the least +umbrage. The Parliament was too apt to give ear to every groundless tale +of the non-execution of their declarations. The Duc d'Orleans saw all +the good he was capable of doing and part of the evil he had power to +prevent, but neither was strong enough to influence his fearful temper; +he was unconscious of the coming and fatal blow. The Prince de Conde, +who saw the evil to its full extent, was too courageous by nature to fear +the consequences; he was inclined to do good, but would do it only in his +own way. His age, his humour, and his victories hindered him from +associating patience with activity, nor was he acquainted, unfortunately, +with this maxim so necessary for princes,--"always to sacrifice the +little affairs to the greater;" and the Cardinal, being ignorant of our +ways, daily confounded the most weighty with the most trifling. + +The Parliament, who met on the 2d of January, 1649, resolved to enforce +the execution of the declaration, which, they pretended, had been +infringed in all its articles; and the Queen was resolved to retire from +Paris with the King and the whole Court. The Queen was guided by the +Cardinal, and the Duc d'Orleans by La Riviere, the most sordid and +self-interested man of the age in which he lived. As for the Prince de +Conde, he began to be disgusted with the unseasonable proceedings of the +Parliament almost as soon as he had concerted measures with Broussel and +Longueil, which distaste, joined to the kindly attentions of the Queen, +the apparent submission of the Cardinal, and an hereditary inclination +received from his parents to keep well with the Court, cramped the +resolutions of his great soul. I bewailed this change in his behaviour +both for my own and the public account, but much more for his sake. I +loved him as much as I honoured him, and clearly saw the precipice. + +I had divers conferences with him, in which I found that his disgust was +turned into wrath and indignation. He swore there was no bearing with +the insolence and impertinence of those citizens who struck at the royal +authority; that as long as he thought they aimed only at Mazarin he was +on their side; that I myself had often confessed that no certain measures +could be concerted with men who changed their opinions every quarter of +an hour; that he could never condescend to be General of an army of +fools, with whom no wise man would entrust himself; besides that, he was +a Prince of the blood, and would not be instrumental in giving a shock to +the Throne; and that the Parliament might thank themselves if they were +ruined through not observing the measures agreed on. + +This was the substance of my answer: "No men are more bound by interest +than the Parliament to maintain the royal authority, so that they cannot +be thought to have a design to ruin the State, though their proceedings +may have a tendency that way. It must be owned, therefore, that if the +sovereign people do evil, it is only when they are not able to act as +well as they would. A skilful minister, who knows how to manage large +bodies of men as well as individuals, keeps up such a due balance between +the Prince's authority and the people's obedience as to make all things +succeed and prosper. But the present Prime Minister has neither judgment +nor strength to adjust the pendulum of this State clock, the springs of +which are out of order. His business is to make it go slower, which, I +own, he attempts to do, but very awkwardly, because he has not the brains +for it. In this lies the fault of our machine. Your Highness is in the +right to set about the mending of it, because nobody else is capable of +doing it; but in order to do this must you join with those that would +knock it in pieces? + +"You are convinced of the Cardinal's extravagances, and that his only +view is to establish in France a form of government known nowhere but in +Italy. If he should succeed, will the State be a gainer by it, according +to its only true maxims? Would it be an advantage to the Princes of the +blood in any sense? But, besides, has he any likelihood of succeeding? +Is he not loaded with the odium and contempt of the public? and is not +the Parliament the idol they revere? I know you despise them because the +Court is so well armed, but let me tell you that they are so confident of +their power that they feel their importance. They are come to that pass +that they do not value your forces, and though the evil is that at +present their strength consists only in their imagination, yet a time may +come when they may be able to do whatever they now think it in their +power to do. + +"Your Highness lately told me that this disposition of the people was +only smoke; but be assured that smoke so dark and thick proceeds from a +brisk fire, which the Parliament blows, and, though they mean well, may +blaze up into such a flame as may consume themselves and again hazard the +destruction of the State, which has been the case more than once. Bodies +of men, when once exasperated by a Ministry, always aggravate their +failures, and scarcely ever show them any favour, which, in some cases, +is enough to ruin a kingdom. + +"If, when the proposition was formerly made to the Parliament by the +Cardinal to declare whether they intended to set bounds to the royal +authority, if, I say, they had not wisely eluded the ridiculous and +dangerous question, France would have run a great risk, in my opinion, of +being entirely ruined; for had they answered in the affirmative, as they +were on the point of doing, they would have rent the veil that covers the +mysteries of State. Every monarchy has its peculiar veil; that of France +consists in a kind of religious and sacred silence, which, by the +subjects generally paying a blind obedience to their Kings, muffles up +that right which they think they have to dispense with their obedience in +cases where a complaisance to their Kings would be a prejudice to +themselves. It is a wonder that the Parliament did not strip off this +veil by a formal decree. This has had much worse consequences since the +people have taken the liberty to look through it. + +"Your Highness cannot by the force of arms prevent these dangerous +consequences, which, perhaps, are already too near at hand. You see that +even the Parliament can hardly restrain the people whom they have roused; +that the contagion is spread into the provinces, and you know that +Guienne and Provence are entirely governed by the example of Paris. Every +thing shakes and totters, and it is your Highness only that can set us +right, because of the splendour of your birth and reputation, and the +generally received opinion that none but you can do it. + +"The Queen shares with the Cardinal in the common hatred, and the Duc +d'Orleans with La Riviere in the universal contempt of the people. If, +out of mere complaisance, you abet their measures, you will share in the +hatred of the public. It is true that you are above their contempt; but +then their dread of you will be so great that it will grievously embitter +the hatred they will then bear to you, and the contempt they have already +for the others, so that what is at present only a serious wound in the +State will perhaps become incurable and mortal. I am sensible you have +grounds to be diffident of the behaviour of a body consisting of above +two hundred persons, who are neither capable of governing nor being +governed. I own the thought is perplexing; but such favourable +circumstances seem to offer themselves at this juncture that matters are +much simplified. + +"Supposing that manifestoes were published, and your Highness declared +General of the Parliamentary Army, would you, monseigneur, meet with +greater difficulties than your grandfather and great-grandfather did, in +accommodating themselves to the caprice of the ministers of Rochelle and +the mayors of Nimes and Montauban? And would your Highness find it a +greater task to manage the Parliament of Paris than M. de Mayenne did in +the time of the League, when there was a factious opposition made to all +the measures of the Parliament? Your birth and merit raise you as far +above M. de Mayenne as the cause in hand is above that of the League; and +the circumstances of both are no less different. The head of the League +declared war by an open and public alliance with Spain against the Crown, +and against one of the best and bravest kings that France ever had. And +this head of the League, though descended from a foreign and suspected +family, kept, notwithstanding, that same Parliament in his interest for a +considerable time. + +"You have consulted but two members of the whole Parliament, and them +only upon their promise to disclose your intentions to no man living. How +then can your Highness think it possible that your sentiments, locked up +so closely in the breasts of two members, can have any influence upon the +whole body of the Parliament? I dare answer for it, monseigneur, that if +you will but declare yourself openly the protector of the public and of +the sovereign companies, you might govern them--at least, for a +considerable time--with an absolute and almost sovereign authority. But +this, it seems, is not what you have in view; you are not willing to +embroil yourself with the Court. You had rather be of the Cabinet than +of a party. Do not take it ill, then, that men who consider you only in +this light do not conduct themselves as you would like. You ought to +conform your measures to theirs, because theirs are moderate; and you may +safely do it, for the Cardinal can hardly stand under the heavy weight of +the public hatred, and is too weak to oblige you against your will to any +sudden and precipitate rupture. La Riviere, who governs the Duc +d'Orleans, is a most dangerous man. Continue, then, to introduce +moderate measures, and let them take their course, according to your +first plan. Is a little more or less heat in Parliamentary proceedings +sufficient reason to make you alter it? For whatever be the consequence, +the worst that can happen is that the Queen may believe you not zealous +enough for her interest; but are there not remedies enough for that? Are +there not excuses and appearances ready at hand, and such as cannot fail? + +"And now, I pray your Highness to give me leave to add that there never +was so excellent, so innocent, so sacred, and so necessary a project as +this formed by your Highness, and, in my humble opinion, there never were +such weak reasons as those you have now urged to hinder its execution; +for I take this to be the weakest of all, which, perhaps, you think a +very strong one, namely, that if Mazarin miscarries in his designs you +may be ruined along with him; and if he does succeed he will destroy you +by the very means which you took to raise him." + +It had not the intended effect on the Prince, who was already +prepossessed, and who only answered me in general terms. But heroes have +their faults as well as other men, and so had his Highness, who had one +of the finest geniuses in the world, but little or no forethought. He +did not seek to aggravate matters in order to render himself necessary at +Court, or with a view to do what he afterwards did for the Cardinal, nor +was he biassed by the mean interests of pension, government, and +establishment. He had most certainly great hopes of being arbiter of the +Cabinet. The glory of being restorer of the public peace was his first +end in view, and being the conservator of the royal authority the second. +Those who labour under such an imperfection, though they see clearly the +advantages and disadvantages of both parties, know not which to choose, +because they do not weigh them in the same balance, so that the same +thing appears lightest today which they will think heaviest to-morrow. +This was the case of the Prince, who, it must be owned, if he had carried +on his good design with prudence, certainly would have reestablished the +Government upon a lasting foundation. + +He told me more than once, in an angry mood, that if the Parliament went +on at the old rate he would teach them that it would be no great task to +reduce them to reason. I perceived by his talk that the Court had +resumed the design of besieging Paris; and to be the more satisfied of it +I told him that the Cardinal might easily be disappointed in his +measures, and that he would find Paris to be a very tough morsel. + +"It shall not be taken," he said, "like Dunkirk, by mines and storming; +but suppose its bread from Gonesse should be cut off for eight days +only?" + +I took this statement then for granted, and replied that the stopping of +that passage would be attended with difficulties. + +"What difficulties?" asked the Prince, very briskly. "The citizens? Will +they come out to give battle?" + +"If it were only citizens, monseigneur," I said, "the battle would not be +very sharp." + +"Who will be with them?" he replied; "will you be there yourself?" + +"That would be a very bad omen," I said; "it would look too much like the +proceedings of the League." + +After a little pause, he said, "But now, to be serious, would you be so +foolish as to embark with those men?" + +"You know, monseigneur," I said, "that I am engaged already; and that, +moreover, as Coadjutor of Paris, I am concerned both by honour and +interest in its preservation. I shall be your Highness's humble servant +as long as I live, except in this one point." + +I saw he was touched to the quick, but he kept his temper, and said these +very words: "When you engage in a bad cause I will pity you, but shall +have no reason to complain of you. Nor do you complain of me; but do me +that justice you owe me, namely, to own that all I promised to Longueil +and Broussel is since annulled by the conduct of the Parliament." + +He afterwards showed me many personal favours, and offered to make my +peace with the Court. I assured him of my obedience and zeal for his +service in everything that did not interfere with the engagements I had +entered into, which, as he himself owned, I could not possibly avoid. + +After we parted I paid a visit to Madame de Longueville, who seemed +enraged both against the Court and the Prince de Conde. I was pleased to +think, moreover, that she could do what she would with the Prince de +Conti, who was little better than a child; but then I considered that +this child was a Prince of the blood, and it was only a name we wanted to +give life to that which, without one, was a mere embryo. I could answer +for M. de Longueville, who loved to be the first man in any public +revolution, and I was as well assured of Marechal de La Mothe,--[Philippe +de La Mothe-Houdancourt, deceased 1657.]--who was madly opposed to the +Court, and had been inviolably attached to M. de Longueville for twenty +years together. I saw that the Duc de Bouillon, through the injustice +done him by the Court and the unfortunate state of his domestic affairs, +was very much annoyed and almost desperate. I had an eye upon all these +gentlemen at a distance, but thought neither of them fit to open the +drama. M. de Longueville was only fit for the second act; the Marechal +de La Mothe was a good soldier, but had no headpiece, and was therefore +not qualified for the first act. M. de Bouillon was my man, had not his +honesty been more problematic than his talents. You will not wonder that +I was so wavering in my choice, and that I fixed at last upon the Prince +de Conti, of the blood of France. + +As soon as I gave Madame de Longueville a hint of what part she was to +act in the intended revolution, she was perfectly transported, and I took +care to make M. de Longueville as great a malcontent as herself. She had +wit and beauty, though smallpox had taken away the bloom of her pretty +face, in which there sat charms so powerful that they rendered her one of +the most amiable persons in France. I could have placed her in my heart +between Mesdames de Gudmenee and Pommereux, and it was not the despair of +succeeding that palled my passion, but the consideration that the +benefice was not yet vacant, though not well served,--M. de La +Rochefoucault was in possession, yet absent in Poitou. I sent her three +or four billets-doux every day, and received as many. I went very often +to her levee to be more at liberty to talk of affairs, got extraordinary +advantages by it, and I knew that it was the only way to be sure of the +Prince de Conti. + +Having settled a regular correspondence with Madame de Longueville, she +made me better acquainted with M. de La Rochefoucault, who made the +Prince de Conti believe that he spoke a good word for him to the lady, +his sister, with whom he was in, love. And the two so blinded the Prince +that he did not suspect anything till four years after. + +When I saw that the Court would act upon their own initiative, I resolved +to declare war against them and attack Mazarin in person, because +otherwise we could not escape being first attacked by him. + +It is certain that he gave his enemies such an advantage over him as no +other Prime Minister ever did. Power commonly keeps above ridicule, but +everybody laughed at the Cardinal because of his silly sayings and +doings, which those in his position are seldom guilty of. It was said +that he had lately asked Bougeval, deputy of the Grand Council, whether +he did not think himself obliged to have no buttons to the collar of his +doublet, if the King should command it,--a grave argument to convince the +deputies of an important company of the obedience due to kings, for which +he was severely lampooned both in prose and verse. + +The Court having attempted to legalise excessive usury,--I mean with +respect to the affair of loans,--my dignity would not permit me to +tolerate so public and scandalous an evil. Therefore I held an assembly +of the clergy, where, without so much as mentioning the Cardinal's name +in the conferences, in which I rather affected to spare him, yet in a +week's time I made him pass for one of the most obstinate Jews in Europe. + +At this very time I was sent for, by a civil letter under the Queen's own +hand, to repair to Saint Germain, the messenger telling me the King was +just gone thither and that the army was commanded to advance. I made him +believe I would obey the summons, but I did not intend to do so. + +I was pestered for five hours with a parcel of idle rumours of ruin and +destruction, which rather diverted than alarmed me, for though the Prince +de Conde, distrusting his brother the Prince de Conti, had surprised him +in bed and carried him off with him to Saint Germain, yet I did not +question but that, as long as Madame de Longueville stayed in Paris, we +should see him again, the rather because his brother neither feared nor +valued him sufficiently to put him under arrest, and I was assured that +M. de Longueville would be in Paris that evening by having received a +letter from himself. + +The King was no sooner gone than the Parliament met, frightened out of +their senses, and I know not what they could have done if we had not +found a way to change their fears into a resolution to make a bold stand. +I have observed a thousand times that there are some kinds of fear only +to be removed by higher degrees of terror. I caused it to be signified +to the Parliament that there was in the Hotel de Ville a letter from his +Majesty to the magistrates, containing the reasons that had obliged him +to leave his good city of Paris, which were in effect that some of the +officers of the House held a correspondence with the enemies of the +Government, and had conspired to seize his person. + +The Parliament, considering this letter and that the President le Feron, +'prevot des marchands', was a creature of the Court, ordered the citizens +to arms, the gates to be secured, and the 'prevot des marchands' and the +'lieutenant de police' to keep open the necessary passages for +provisions. + +Having thought it good policy that the first public step of resistance +should be taken by the Parliament to justify the disobedience of private +persons, I then invented this stratagem to render me the more excusable +to the Queen for not going to Saint Germain. Having taken leave of all +friends and rejected all their entreaties for my stay in Paris, I took +coach as if I were driving to Court, but, by good luck, met with an +eminent timber-merchant, a very good friend of mine, at the end of +Notre-Dame Street, who was very much out of humour, set upon my +postilion, and threatened my coachman. The people came and overturned my +coach, and the women, shrieking, carried me back to my own house. + +I wrote to the Queen and Prince, signifying how sorry I was that I had +met with such a stoppage; but the Queen treated the messenger with scorn +and contempt. The Prince, at the same time that he pitied me, could not +help showing his anger. La Riviere attacked me with railleries and +invectives, and the messenger thought they were sure of putting the rope +about all our necks on the morrow. + +I was not so much alarmed at their menaces as at the news I heard the +same day that M. de Longueville, returning from Rouen, had turned off to +Saint Germain. Marechal de La Mothe told me twenty times that he would +do everything to the letter that M. de Longueville would have him do for +or against the Court. M. de Bouillon quarrelled with me for confiding in +men who acted so contrary to the repeated assurances I had given him of +their good behaviour. And besides all this, Madame de Longueville +protested to me that she had received no news from M. de La +Rochefoucault, who went soon after the King, with a design to fortify the +Prince de Conti in his resolution and to bring him back to Paris. Upon +this I sent the Marquis de Noirmoutier to Saint Germain to learn what we +had to trust to. + +On the 7th of January, 1649, an order was sent from the King to the +Parliament to remove to Montargis, to the Chamber of Accounts to adjourn +to Orleans and to the Grand Council to retire to Mantes. A packet was +also sent to the Parliament, which they would not open, because they +guessed at the contents and were resolved beforehand not to obey. +Therefore they returned it sealed up as it came, and agreed to send +assurances of their obedience to the Queen, and to beg she would give +them leave to clear themselves from the aspersion thrown upon them in the +letter above mentioned sent to the chief magistrate of the city. And to +support the dignity of Parliament it was further resolved that her +Majesty should be petitioned in a most humble manner to name the +calumniators, that they might be proceeded against according to law. At +the same time Broussel, Viole, Amelot, and seven others moved that it +might be demanded in form that Cardinal Mazarin should be removed; but +they were not supported by anybody else, so that they were treated as +enthusiasts. Although this was a juncture in which it was more necessary +than ever to act with vigour, yet I do not remember the time when I have +beheld so much faintheartedness. + +The Chamber of Accounts immediately set about making remonstrances; but +the Grand Council would have obeyed the King's orders, only the city +refused them passports. I think this was one of the most gloomy days I +had as yet seen. I found the Parliament had almost lost all their +spirit, and that I should be obliged to bow my neck under the most +shameful and dangerous yoke of slavery, or be reduced to the dire +necessity of setting up for tribune of the people, which is the most +uncertain and meanest of all posts when it is not vested with sufficient +power. + +The weakness of the Prince de Conti, who was led like a child by his +brother, the cowardice of M. de Longueville, who had been to offer his +service to the Queen, and the declaration of MM. de Bouillon and de La +Mothe had mightily disfigured my tribuneship. But the folly of Mazarin +raised its reputation, for he made the Queen refuse audience to the +King's Council, who returned that night to Paris, fully convinced that +the Court was resolved to push things to extremity. + +I was informed from Saint Germain that the Prince had assured the Queen +he would take Paris in a fortnight, and they hoped that the +discontinuance of two markets only would starve the city into a +surrender. I carried this news to my friends, who began to see that +there was no possibility, of accommodation. + +The Parliament was no sooner acquainted that the King's Council had been +denied audience than with one voice--Bernai excepted, who was fitter for +a cook than a councillor--they passed that famous decree of January 8th, +1649, whereby Cardinal Mazarin was declared an enemy to the King and +Government, a disturber of the public peace, and all the King's subjects +were enjoined to attack him without mercy. + +In the afternoon there was a general council of the deputies of +Parliament, of the Chamber of Accounts, of the Court of Aids, the chief +magistrates of Paris, and the six trading companies, wherein it was +resolved that the magistrates should issue commissions for raising 4,000 +horse and 10,000 foot. The same day the Chamber of Accounts, the Court +of Aids, and the city sent their deputies to the Queen, to beseech her +Majesty to bring the King back to Paris, but the Court was obdurate. The +Prince de Conde flew out against the Parliament in the Queen's presence; +and her Majesty told them all that neither the King nor herself would +ever come again within the walls of the city till the Parliament was gone +out of it. + +The next day the city received a letter from the King commanding them to +oblige the Parliament to remove to Montargis. The governor, one of the +sheriffs, and four councillors of the city carried the letter to +Parliament, protesting at the same time that they would obey no other +orders than those of the Parliament, who that very morning settled the +necessary funds for raising troops. In the afternoon there was a general +council, wherein all the corporations of the city and all the colonels +and captains of the several quarters entered into an association, +confirmed by an oath, for their mutual defence. In the meantime I was +informed by the Marquis de Noirmoutier that the Prince de Conti and M. de +Longueville were very well disposed, and that they stayed at Court the +longer to have a safer opportunity of coming away. M. de La +Rochefoucault wrote to the same purpose to Madame de Longueville. + +The same day I had a visit from the Duc d'Elbeuf,--[Charles de Lorraine, +the second of that name, who died 1657.]--who, as they said, having +missed a dinner at Court, came to Paris for a supper. He addressed me +with all the cajoling flattery of the House of Guise, and had three +children with him, who were not so eloquent, but seemed to be quite as +cunning as himself. He told me that he was going to offer his service to +the Hotel de Ville; but I advised him to wait upon the Parliament. He +was fixed in his first resolution, yet he came to assure me he would +follow my advice in everything. I was afraid that the Parisians, to whom +the very name of a Prince of Lorraine is dear, would have given him the +command of the troops. Therefore I ordered the clergy over whom I had +influence to insinuate to the people that he was too influential with the +Abbe de La Riviere, and I showed the Parliament what respect he had for +them by addressing himself to the Hotel de Ville in the first place, and +that he had not honour enough to be trusted. I was shown a letter which +he wrote to his friend as he came into town, in which were these words: +"I must go and do homage to the Coadjutor now, but in three days' time he +shall return it to me." And I knew from other instances that his +affection for me was of the feeblest. + +While I was reflecting what to do, news was brought to me before daylight +that the Prince de Conti and M. de Longueville were at the gate of Saint +Honord and denied entrance by the people, who feared they came to betray +the city. I immediately fetched honest Broussel, and, taking some +torches to light us, we posted to the said gate through a prodigious +crowd of people; it was broad daylight before we could persuade the +people that they might safely let them in. + +The great difficulty now was how to manage so as to remove the general +distrust of the Prince de Conti that existed among the people. That +which was practicable the night before was rendered impossible and even +ruinous the next day, and this same Duc d'Elbeuf, whom I thought to have +driven out of Paris on the 9th, was in a fair way to have compelled me to +leave on the 10th if he had played his game well, so suspected was the +name of Conde by the people. As there wanted a little time to reconcile +them, I thought it was our only way to keep fair with M. d'Elbeuf and to +convince him that it would be to his interest to join with the Prince de +Conti and M. de Longueville. I accordingly sent to acquaint him that I +intended him a visit, but when I arrived he was gone to the Parliament, +where the First President, who was against removing to Montargis and at +the same time very averse to a civil war, embraced him, and, without +giving the members time to consider what was urged by Broussel, Viole, +and others to the contrary, caused him to be declared General, with a +design merely to divide and weaken the party. + +Upon this I made haste to the Palace of Longueville to persuade the +Prince de Conti and M. de Longueville to go that very instant to the +Parliament House. The latter was never in haste, and the Prince having +gone tired to bed, it was with much ado I prevailed on him to rise. In +short, he was so long in setting out that the Parliament was up and M. +d'Elbeuf was marching to the Hotel de Ville to be sworn and to take care +of the commissions that were to be issued. I thereupon persuaded the +Prince de Conti to go to the Parliament in the afternoon and to offer +them his service, while I stayed without in the hall to observe the +disposition of the people. + +He went thither accordingly in my coach and with my grand livery, by +which he made it appear that he reposed his confidence entirely in the +people, whom there is a necessity of managing with a world of precaution +because of their natural diffidence and instability. When we came to the +House we were saluted upon the stairs with "God bless the Coadjutor!" +but, except those posted there on purpose, not a soul cried, "God bless +the Prince de Conti!" from which I concluded that the bulk of the people +were not yet cured of their diffidence, and therefore I was very glad +when I had got the Prince into the Grand Chamber. The moment after, M. +d'Elbeuf came in with the city guards, who attended him as general, and +with all the people crying out, "God bless his Highness M. d'Elbeuf!" But +as they cried at the same time "God save the Coadjutor!" I addressed +myself to him with a smile and said, "This is an echo, monsieur, which +does me a great deal of honour."--"It is very kind of you," said he, and, +turning to the guards, bade them stay at the door of the Grand Chamber. I +took the order as given to myself, and stayed there likewise, with a +great number of my friends. As soon as the House was formed, the Prince +de Conti stood up and said that, having been made acquainted at Saint +Germain with the pernicious counsels given to the Queen, he thought +himself obliged, as Prince of the blood, to oppose them. M. d'Elbeuf, +who was proud and insolent, like all weak men, because he thought he had +the strongest party, said he knew the respect due to the Prince de Conti, +but that he could not forbear telling them that it was himself who first +broke the ice and offered his service to the Parliament, who, having +conferred the General's baton upon him, he would never part with it but +with his life. + +The generality of the members, who were as distrustful of the Prince de +Conti as the people, applauded this declaration, and the Parliament +passed a decree forbidding the troops on pain of high treason to advance +within twenty miles of Paris. I saw that all I could do that day was to +reconduct the Prince de Conti in safety to the palace of Longueville, for +the crowd was so great that I was fain to carry him, as it were, in my +arms out of the Grand Chamber. + +M. d'Elbeuf, who thought the day was all his own, hearing my name joined +with his in the huzzas of the people, said to me by way of reprisal, +"This, monsieur, is an echo which does me a great deal of honour," to +which I replied, as he did to me before, "Monsieur, it is very kind of +you." Meantime he was not wise enough to improve the opportunity, and I +foresaw that things would soon take another turn, for reputation of long +standing among the people never fails to blast the tender blossoms of +public good-will which are forced out of due season. + +I had news sent to me from Madame de Lesdiguieres at Saint Germain, that +M. d'Elbeuf, an hour after he heard of the arrival of the Prince de Conti +and M. de Longueville at Paris, wrote a letter to the Abbe de la Riviere +with these words: "Tell the Queen and the Duc d'Orleans that this +diabolical Coadjutor is the ruin of everything here, and that in two days +I shall have no power at all, but that if they will be kind to me I will +make them sensible. I am not come hither with so bad a design as they +imagine." I made a very good use of this advice, and, knowing that the +people are generally fond of everything that seems mysterious, I imparted +the secret to four or five hundred persons. I had the pleasure to hear +that the confidence which the Prince had reposed in the people by going +about all alone in my coach, without any attendance, had won their +hearts. + +At midnight M. de Longueville, Marechal de La Mothe, and myself went to +M. de Bouillon, whom we found as wavering as the state of affairs, but +when we showed him our plan, and how easily it might be executed, he +joined us immediately. We concerted measures, and I gave out orders to +all the colonels and captains of my acquaintance. + +The most dangerous blow that I gave to M. d'Elbeuf was by making the +people believe that he held correspondence with the King's troops, who on +the 9th, at night, surprised Charenton. I met him on the first report of +it, when he said, "Would you think there are people so wicked as to say +that I had a hand in the capture of Charenton?" I said in answer, "Would +you think there are people vile enough to report that the Prince de Conti +is come hither by concert with the Prince de Conde?" + +When I saw the people pretty well cured of their diffidence, and not so +zealous as they were for M. d'Elbeuf, I was for mincing the matter no +longer, and thought that ostentation would be as proper to-day as reserve +was yesterday. The Prince de Conti took M. de Longueville to the +Parliament House, where he offered them his services, together with all +Normandy, and desired they would accept of his wife, son, and daughter, +and keep them in the Hotel de Ville as pledges of his sincerity. He was +seconded by M. de Bouillon, who said he was exceedingly glad to serve the +Parliament under the command of so great a Prince as the Prince de Conti. +M. d'Elbeuf was nettled at this expression, and repeated what he had said +before, that he would not part with the General's staff, and he showed +more warmth than judgment in the whole debate. He spoke nothing to the +purpose. It was too late to dispute, and he was obliged to yield, but I +have observed that fools yield only when they cannot help it. We tried +his patience a third time by the appearance of Marechal de La Mothe, who +passed the same compliment upon the company as De Bouillon had done. We +had concerted beforehand that these personages should make their +appearance upon the theatre one after the other, for we had remarked that +nothing so much affects the people, and even the Parliament, among whom +the people are a majority, as a variety of scenes. + +I took Madame de Longueville and Madame de Bouillon in a coach by way of +triumph to the Hotel de Ville. They were both of rare beauty, and +appeared the more charming because of a careless air, the more becoming +to both because it was unaffected. Each held one of her children, +beautiful as the mother, in her arms. The place was so full of people +that the very tops of the houses were crowded; all the men shouted and +the women wept for joy and affection. I threw five hundred pistoles out +of the window of the Hotel de Ville, and went again to the Parliament +House, accompanied by a vast number of people, some with arms and others +without. M. d'Elbeuf's captain of the guards told his master that he was +ruined to all intents and purposes if he did not accommodate himself to +the present position of affairs, which was the reason that I found him +much perplexed and dejected, especially when M. de Bellievre, who had +amused him hitherto designedly, came in and asked what meant the beating +of the drums. I answered that he would hear more very soon, and that all +honest men were quite out of patience with those that sowed divisions +among the people. I saw then that wisdom in affairs of moment is nothing +without courage. M. d'Elbeuf had little courage at this juncture, made a +ridiculous explanation of what he had said before, and granted more than +he was desired to do, and it was owing to the civility and good sense of +M. de Bouillon that he retained the title of General and the precedence +of M. de Bouillon and M. de La Mothe, who were equally Generals with +himself under the Prince de Conti, who was from that instant declared +Generalissimo of the King's forces under the direction of the Parliament. + +There happened at this time a comical scene in the Hotel de Ville, which +I mention more particularly because of its consequence. De Noirmoutier, +who the night before was made lieutenant-general, returning by the Hotel +de Ville from a sally which he had made into the suburbs to drive away +Mazarin's skirmishers, as they were called, entered with three officers +in armour into the chamber of Madame de Longueville, which was full of +ladies; the mixture of blue scarfs, ladies, cuirassiers, fiddlers, and +trumpeters in and about the hall was such a sight as is seldom met with +but in romances. De Noirmoutier, who was a great admirer of Astrea, said +he imagined that we were besieged in Marcilli. "Well you may," said I; +"Madame de Longueville is as fair as Galatea, but Marsillac (son of M. de +La Rochefoucault) is not a man of so much honour as Lindamore." I fancy +I was overheard by one in a neighbouring window, who might have told M. +de La Rochefoucault, for otherwise I cannot guess at the first cause of +the hatred which he afterwards bore me. + +Before I proceed to give you the detail of the civil war, suffer me to +lead you into the gallery where you, who are an admirer of fine painting, +will be entertained with the figures of the chief actors, drawn all at +length in their proper colours, and you will be able to judge by the +history whether they are painted to the life. Let us begin, as it is but +just, with her Majesty. + +Character of the Queen. + +The Queen excelled in that kind of wit which was becoming her circle, to +the end that she might not appear silly before strangers; she was more +ill-natured than proud, had more pride than real grandeur, and more show +than substance; she loved money too well to be liberal, and her own +interest too well to be impartial; she was more constant than passionate +as a lover, more implacable than cruel, and more mindful of injuries than +of good offices. She had more of the pious intention than of real piety, +more obstinacy than well-grounded resolution, and a greater measure of +incapacity than of all the rest. + +Character of the Duc d' Orleans. + +The Duc d'Orleans possessed all the good qualities requisite for a man of +honour except courage, but having not one quality eminent enough to make +him notable, he had nothing in him to supply or support the weakness +which was so predominant in his heart through fear, and in his mind +through irresolution, that it tarnished the whole course of his life. He +engaged in all affairs, because he had not power to resist the +importunities of those who drew him in for their own advantage, and came +off always with shame for want of courage to go on. His suspicious +temper, even from his childhood, deadened those lively, gay colours which +would have shone out naturally with the advantages of a fine, bright +genius, an amiable gracefulness, a very honest disposition, a perfect +disinterestedness, and an incredible easiness of behaviour. + +Character of the Prince de Conde. + +The Prince de Conde was born a general, an honour none could ever boast +of before but Caesar and Spinola; he was equal to the first, but superior +to the second. Intrepidity was one of the least parts of his character. +Nature gave him a genius as great as his heart. It was his fortune to be +born in an age of war, which gave him an opportunity to display his +courage to its full extent; but his birth, or rather education, in a +family submissively attached to the Cabinet, restrained his noble genius +within too narrow bounds. There was no care taken betimes to inspire him +with those great and general maxims which form and improve a man of +parts. He had not time to acquire them by his own application, because +he was prevented from his youth by the unexpected revolution, and by a +constant series of successes. This one imperfection, though he had as +pure a soul as any in the world, was the reason that he did things which +were not to be justified, that though he had the heart of Alexander so he +had his infirmities, that he was guilty of unaccountable follies, that +having all the talents of Francois de Guise, he did not serve the State +upon some occasions as well as he ought, and that having the parts of +Henri de Conde, his namesake, he did not push the faction as far as he +might have done, nor did he discharge all the duties his extraordinary +merit demanded from him. + +Character of the Duc de Longueville. + +M. de Longueville, though he had the grand name of Orleans, together with +vivacity, an agreeable appearance, generosity, liberality, justice, +valour, and grandeur, yet never made any extraordinary figure in life, +because his ideas were infinitely above his capacity. If a man has +abilities and great designs, he is sure to be looked upon as a man of +some importance; but if he does not carry them out, he is not much +esteemed, which was the case with De Longueville. + +Character of the Duc de Beaufort. + +M. de Beaufort knew little of affairs of moment but by hearsay and by +what he had learned in the cabal of "The Importants," of whose jargon he +had retained some smattering, which, together with some expressions he +had perfectly acquired from Madame de Vendome, formed a language that +would have puzzled a Cato. His speech was short and stupidly dull, and +the more so because he obscured it by affectation. He thought himself +very sufficient, and pretended to a great deal more wit than came to his +share. He was brave enough in his person, and outdid the common Hectors +by being so upon all occasions, but never more 'mal a propos' than in +gallantry. And he talked and thought just as the people did whose idol +he was for some time. + +Character of the Dice d'Elbeuf. + +M. d'Elbeuf could not fail of courage, as he was a Prince of the house of +Lorraine. He had all the wit that a man of abundantly more cunning and +good sense could pretend to. He was a medley of incoherent flourishes. +He was the first Prince debased by poverty; and, perhaps, never man was +more at a loss than he to raise the pity of the people in misery. A +comfortable subsistence did not raise his spirits; and if he had been +master of riches he would have been envied as a leader of a party. +Poverty so well became him that it seemed as if he had been cut out for a +beggar. + +Character of the Duc de Bouillon. + +The Duc de Bouillon was a man of experienced valour and profound sense. I +am fully persuaded, by what I have seen of his conduct, that those who +cry it down wrong his character; and it may be that others had too +favourable notions of his merit, who thought him capable of all the great +things which he never did. + +Character of M. de Turenne. + +M. de Turenne had all the good qualities in his very nature, and acquired +all the great ones very early, those only excepted that he never thought +of. Though almost all the virtues were in a manner natural to him, yet +he shone out in none. He was looked upon as more proper to be at the +head of an army than of a faction, for he was not naturally enterprising. +He had in all his conduct, as well as in his way of talking, certain +obscurities which he never explained but on particular occasions, and +then only for his own honour. + +Character of Marechal de La Mothe. + +The Marechal de La Mothe was a captain of the second rank, full of +mettle, but not a man of much sense. He was affable and courteous in +civil life, and a very useful man in a faction because of his wonderful +complacency. + +Character of the Prince de Conti. + +The Prince de Conti was a second Zeno as much as he was a Prince of the +blood. That is his character with regard to the public; and as to his +private capacity, wickedness had the same effect on him as weakness had +on M. d'Elbeuf, and drowned his other qualities, which were all mean and +tinctured with folly. + +Character of M. de La Rochefoucault. + +M. de La Rochefoucault had something so odd in all his conduct that I +know not what name to give it. He loved to be engaged in intrigues from +a child. He was never capable of conducting any affair, for what reasons +I could not conceive; for he had endowments which, in another, would have +made amends for imperfections . . . . He had not a long view of what +was beyond his reach, nor a quick apprehension of what was within it; but +his sound sense, very good in speculation, his good-nature, his engaging +and wonderfully easy behaviour, were enough to have made amends more than +they did for his want of penetration. He was constantly wavering in his +resolution, but what to attribute it to I know not, for it could not come +from his fertile imagination, which was lively. Nor can I say it came +from his barrenness of thought, for though he did not excel as a man of +affairs, yet he had a good fund of sense. The effect of this +irresolution is very visible, though we do not know its cause. He never +was a warrior, though a true soldier. He never was a courtier, though he +had always a good mind to be one. He never was a good party man, though +his whole life was engaged in partisanship. He was very timorous and +bashful in conversation, and thought he always stood in need of +apologies, which, considering that his "Maxims" showed not great regard +for virtue, and that his practice was always to get out of affairs with +the same hurry as he got into them, makes me conclude that he would have +done much better if he had contented himself to have passed, as he might +have done, for the politest courtier and the most cultivated gentlemen of +his age. + +Character of Madame de Longueville. + +Madame de Longueville had naturally a great fund of wit, and was, +moreover, a woman of parts; but her indolent temper kept her from making +any use of her talents, either in gallantries or in her hatred against +the Prince de Conde. Her languishing air had more charms in it than the +most exquisite beauty. She had few or no faults besides what she +contracted in her gallantry. As her passion of love influenced her +conduct more than politics, she who was the Amazon of a great party +degenerated into the character of a fortune-hunter. But the grace of God +brought her back to her former self, which all the world was not able to +do. + +Character of Madame de Chevreuse. + +Madame de Chevreuse had not so much as the remains of beauty when I knew +her; she was the only person I ever saw whose vivacity supplied the want +of judgment; her wit was so brilliant and so full of wisdom that the +greatest men of the age would not have been ashamed of it, while, in +truth, it was owing to some lucky opportunity. If she had been born in +time of peace she would never have imagined there could have been such a +thing as war. If the Prior of the Carthusians had but pleased her, she +would have been a nun all her lifetime. M. de Lorraine was the first +that engaged her in State affairs. The Duke of Buckingham--[George +Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, assassinated when preparing to succour +Rochelle.]--and the Earl of Holland (an English lord, of the family of +Rich, and younger son of the Earl of Warwick, then ambassador in France) +kept her to themselves; M. de Chateauneuf continued the amusement, till +at last she abandoned herself to the pleasing of a person whom she loved, +without any choice, but purely because it was impossible for her to live +without being in love with somebody. It was no hard task to give her one +to serve the turn of the faction, but as soon as she accepted him she +loved him with all her heart and soul, and she confessed that, by the +caprice of fortune, she never loved best where she esteemed most, except +in the case of the poor Duke of Buckingham. Notwithstanding her +attachment in love, which we may, properly call her everlasting passion, +notwithstanding the frequent change of objects, she was peevish and +touchy almost to distraction, but when herself again, her transports were +very agreeable; never was anybody less fearful of real danger, and never +had woman more contempt for scruples and ceremonies. + +Character of Mademoiselle de Chevreuse. + +Mademoiselle de Chevreuse was more beautiful in her person than charming +in her carriage, and by nature extremely silly; her amorous passion made +her seem witty, serious, and agreeable only to him whom she was in love +with, but she soon treated him as she did her petticoat, which to-day she +took into her bed, and to-morrow cast into the fire out of pure aversion. + +Character of the Princess Palatine. + +The Princess Palatine' had just as much gallantry as gravity. I believe +she had as great a talent for State affairs as Elizabeth, Queen of +England. I have seen her in the faction, I have seen her in the Cabinet, +and found her everywhere equally sincere. + +Character of Madame de Montbazon. + +Madame de Montbazon was a very great beauty, only modesty was visibly +wanting in her air; her grand air and her way of talking sometimes +supplied her want of sense. She loved nothing more than her pleasures, +unless it was her private interest, and I never knew a vicious person +that had so little respect for virtue. + +Character of the First President. + +If it were not a sort of blasphemy to say that any mortal of our times +had more courage than the great Gustavus Adolphus and the Prince de +Conde, I would venture to affirm it of M. Mole, the First President, but +his wit was far inferior to his courage. It is true that his enunciation +was not agreeable, but his eloquence was such that, though it shocked the +ear, it seized the imagination. He sought the interest of the public +preferably to all things, not excepting the interest of his own family, +which yet he loved too much for a magistrate. He had not a genius to see +at times the good he was capable of doing, presumed too much upon his +authority, and imagined that he could moderate both the Court and +Parliament; but he failed in both, made himself suspected by both, and +thus, with a design to do good, he did evil. Prejudices contributed not +a little to this, for I observed he was prejudiced to such a degree that +he always judged of actions by men, and scarcely ever of men by their +actions. + +To return to our history. All the companies having united and settled +the necessary funds, a complete army was raised in Paris in a week's +time. The Bastille surrendered after five or six cannon shots, and it +was a pretty sight to see the women carry their chairs into the garden, +where the guns were stationed, for the sake of seeing the siege, just as +if about to hear a sermon. + +M. de Beaufort, having escaped from his confinement, arrived this very +day in Paris. I found that his imprisonment had not made him one jot the +wiser. Indeed, it had got him a reputation, because he bore it with +constancy and made his escape with courage. It was also his merit not to +have abandoned the banks of the Loire at a time when it absolutely +required abundance of skill and courage to stay there. It is an easy +matter for those who are disgraced at Court to make the best of their own +merit in the beginning of a civil war. He had a mind to form an alliance +with me, and knowing how to employ him advantageously, I prepossessed the +people in his favour, and exaggerated the conspiracy which the Cardinal +had formed against him by means of Du Hamel. + +As my friendship was necessary to him, so his was necessary to me; for my +profession on many occasions being a restraint upon me, I wanted a man +sometimes to stand before me. M. de La Mothe was so dependent on M. de +Longueville that I could not rely on him; and M. de Bouillon was not a +man to be governed. + +We went together to wait on the Prince de Conti; we stopped the coach in +the streets, where I proclaimed the name of M. de Beaufort, praised him +and showed him to the people; upon which the people were suddenly fired +with enthusiasm, the women kissed him, and the crowd was so great that we +had much ado to get to the Hotel de Ville. The next day he offered a +petition to the Parliament desiring he might have leave to justify +himself against the accusation of his having formed a design against the +life of the Cardinal, which was granted; and he was accordingly cleared +next day, and the Parliament issued that famous decree for seizing all +the cash of the Crown in all the public and private receipt offices of +the kingdom and employing it in the common defence. + +The Prince de Conde was enraged at the declaration published by the +Prince de Conti and M. de Longueville, which cast the Court, then at +Saint Germain, into such a despair that the Cardinal was upon the point +of retiring. I was abused there without mercy, as appeared by a letter +sent to Madame de Longueville from the Princess, her mother, in which I +read this sentence: "They rail here plentifully against the Coadjutor, +whom yet I cannot forbear thanking for what he has done for the poor +Queen of England." This circumstance is very curious. You must know +that a few days before the King left Paris I visited the Queen of +England, whom I found in the apartment of her daughter, since Madame +d'Orleans. "You see, monsieur," said the Queen, "I come here to keep +Henriette company; the poor child has lain in bed all day for want of a +fire." The truth is, the Cardinal having stopped the Queen's pension six +months, tradesmen were unwilling to give her credit, and there was not a +chip of wood in the house. You may be sure I took care that a Princess +of Great Britain should not be confined to her bed next day, for want of +a fagot; and a few days after I exaggerated the scandal of this +desertion, and the Parliament sent the Queen a present of 40,000 livres. +Posterity will hardly believe that the Queen of England, granddaughter of +Henri the Great, wanted a fagot to light a fire in the month of January, +in the Louvre, and at the Court of France. + +There are many passages in history less monstrous than this which make us +shudder, and this mean action of the Court made so little impression upon +the minds of the generality of the people at that time that I have +reflected a thousand times since that we are far more moved at the +hearing of old stories than of those of the present time; we are not +shocked at what we see with our own eyes, and I question whether our +surprise would be as great as we imagine at the story of Caligula's +promoting his horse to the dignity of a consul were he and his horse now +living. + +To return to the war. A cornet of my regiment being taken prisoner and +carried to Saint Germain, the Queen immediately ordered his head to be +cut off, but I sent a trumpeter to acquaint the Court that I would make +reprisals upon my prisoners, so that my cornet was exchanged and a cartel +settled. + +As soon as Paris declared itself, all the kingdom was in a quandary, for +the Parliament of Paris sent circular letters to all the Parliaments and +cities in the kingdom exhorting them to join against the common enemy; +upon which the Parliaments of Aix and Rouen joined with that of Paris. +The Prince d'Harcourt, now Duc d'Elbeuf, and the cities of Rheims, Tours, +and Potiers, took up arms in its favour. The Duc de La Tremouille raised +men for them publicly. The Duc de Retz offered his service to the +Parliament, together with Belle Isle. Le Mans expelled its bishop and +all the Lavardin family, who were in the interest of the Court. + +On the 18th of January, 1649, I was admitted to a seat and vote in +Parliament, and signed an alliance with the chief leaders of the party: +MM. de Beaufort, de Bouillon, de La Mothe, de Noirmoutier, de Vitri, de +Brissac, de Maure, de Matha, de Cugnac, de Barnire, de Sillery, de La +Rochefoucault, de Laigues, de Sevigny, de Bethune, de Luynes, de +Chaumont, de Saint-Germain, d'Action, and de Fiesque. + +On the 9th of February the Prince de Conde attacked and took Charenton. +All this time the country people were flocking to Paris with provisions, +not only because there was plenty of money, but to enable the citizens to +hold out against the siege, which was begun on the 9th of January. + +On the 12th of February a herald came with two trumpeters from the Court +to one of the city gates, bringing three packets of letters, one for the +Parliament, one for the Prince de Conti, and the third for the Hotel de +Ville. It was but the night before that a person was caught in the halls +dropping libels against the Parliament and me; upon which the Parliament, +Princes, and city supposed that this State visit was nothing but an +amusement of Cardinal Mazarin to cover a worse design, and therefore +resolved not to receive the message nor give the herald audience, but to +send the King's Council to the Queen to represent to her that their +refusal was out of pure obedience and respect, because heralds are never +sent but to sovereign Princes or public enemies, and that the Parliament, +the Prince de Conti, and the city were neither the one nor the other. At +the same time the Chevalier de Lavalette, who distributed the libels, had +formed a design to kill me and M. de Beaufort upon the Parliament stairs +in the great crowd which they expected would attend the appearance of the +herald. The Court, indeed, always denied his having any other commission +than to drop the libels, but I am certain that the Bishop of Dole told +the Bishop of Aire, but a night or two before, that Beaufort and I should +not be among the living three days hence. + +The King's councillors returned with a report how kindly they had been +received at Saint Germain. They said the Queen highly approved of the +reasons offered by the Parliament for refusing entrance to the herald, +and that she had assured them that, though she could not side with the +Parliament in the present state of affairs, yet she received with joy the +assurances they had given her of their respect and submission, and that +she would distinguish them in general and in particular by special marks +of her good-will. Talon, Attorney-General, who always spoke with dignity +and force, embellished this answer of the Queen with all the ornaments he +could give it, assuring the Parliament in very pathetic terms that, if +they should be pleased to send a deputation to Saint Germain, it would be +very kindly received, and might, perhaps, be a great step towards a +peace. + +When I saw that we were besieged, that the Cardinal had sent a person +into Flanders to treat with the Spaniards, and that our party was now so +well formed that there was no danger that I alone should be charged with +courting the alliance of the enemies of the State, I hesitated no longer, +but judged that, as affairs stood, I might with honour hear what +proposals the Spaniards would make to me for the relief of Paris; but I +took care not to have my name mentioned, and that the first overtures +should be made to M. d'Elbeuf, who was the fittest person, because during +the ministry of Cardinal de Richelieu he was twelve or fifteen years in +Flanders a pensioner of Spain. Accordingly Arnolfi, a Bernardin friar, +was sent from the Archduke Leopold, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands +for the King of Spain, to the Duc d'Elbeuf, who, upon sight of his +credentials, thought himself the most considerable man of the party, +invited most of us to dinner, and told us he had a very important matter +to lay before us, but that such was his tenderness for the French name +that he could not open so much as a small letter from a suspected +quarter, which, after some scrupulous and mysterious circumlocutions, he +ventured to name, and we agreed one and all not to refuse the succours +from Spain, but the great difficulty was, which way to get them. +Fuensaldagne, the general, was inclined to join us if he could have been +sure that we would engage with him; but as there was no possibility of +the Parliaments treating with him, nor any dependence to be placed upon +the generals, some of whom were wavering and whimsical, Madame de +Bouillon pressed me not to hesitate any longer, but to join with her +husband, adding that if he and I united, we should so far overmatch the +others that it would not be in their power to injure us. + +M. de Bouillon and I agreed to use our interest to oblige the Parliament +to hear what the envoy had to say. I proposed it to the Parliament, but +the first motion of it was hissed, in a manner, by all the company as +much as if it had been heretical. The old President Le Coigneux, a man +of quick apprehension, observing that I sometimes mentioned a letter from +the Archduke of which there had been no talk, declared himself suddenly +to be of my opinion. He had a secret persuasion that I had seen some +writings which they knew nothing of, and therefore, while both sides were +in the heat of debate, he said to me: + +"Why do you not disclose yourself to your friends? They would come into +your measures. I see very well you know more of the matter than the +person who thinks himself your informant." I vow I was terribly ashamed +of my indiscretion. I squeezed him by the hand and winked at MM. de +Beaufort and de La Mothe. At length two other Presidents came over to my +opinion, being thoroughly convinced that succours from Spain at this time +were a remedy absolutely necessary to our disease, but a dangerous and +empirical medicine, and infallibly mortal to particular persons if it did +not pass first through the Parliament's alembic. + +The Bernardin, being tutored by us beforehand what to say when he came +before the Parliament, behaved like a man of good sense. + +When he desired audience, or rather when the Prince de Conti desired it +for him, the President de Mesmes, a man of great capacity, but by fear +and ambition most slavishly attached to the Court, made an eloquent and +pathetic harangue, preferable to anything I ever met with of the kind in +all the monuments of antiquity, and, turning about to the Prince de +Conti, "Is it possible, monsieur," said he, "that a Prince of the blood +of France should propose to let a person deputed from the most bitter +enemy of the fleurs-de-lis have a seat upon those flowers?" Then turning +to me, he said, "What, monsieur, will you refuse entrance to your +sovereign's herald upon the most trifling pretexts?" I knew what was +coming, and therefore I endeavoured to stop his mouth by this answer: +"Monsieur, you will excuse me from calling those reasons frivolous which +have had the sanction of a decree." The bulk of the Parliament was +provoked at the President's unguarded expression, baited him very +fiercely, and then I made some pretence to go out, leaving Quatresous, a +young man of the warmest temper, in the House to skirmish with him in my +stead, as having experienced more than once that the only way to get +anything of moment passed in Parliamentary or other assemblies is to +exasperate the young men against the old ones. + +In short, after many debates, it was carried that the envoy should be +admitted to audience. Being accordingly admitted, and bidden to be +covered and sit down, he presented the Archduke's credentials, and then +made a speech, which was in substance that his master had ordered him to +acquaint the company with a proposal made him by Cardinal Mazarin since +the blockade of Paris, which his Catholic Majesty did not think +consistent with his safety or honour to accept, when he saw that, on the +one hand, it was made with a view to oppress the Parliament, which was +held in veneration by all the kingdoms in the world, and, on the other, +that all treaties made with a condemned minister would be null and void, +forasmuch as they were made without the concurrence of the Parliament, to +whom only it belonged to register and verify treaties of peace in order +to make them authoritative; that the Catholic King, who proposed to take +no advantage from the present state of affairs, had ordered the Archduke +to assure the Parliament, whom he knew to be in the true interest of the +most Christian King, that he heartily acknowledged them to be the +arbiters of peace, that he submitted to their judgment, and that if they +thought proper to be judges, he left it to their choice to send a +deputation out of their own body to what place they pleased. Paris itself +not excepted, and that his Catholic Majesty would also, without delay, +send his deputies thither to meet and treat with them; that, meanwhile, +he had ordered 18,000 men to march towards their frontiers to relieve +them in case of need, with orders nevertheless to commit no hostilities +upon the towns, etc., of the most Christian King, though they were for +the most part abandoned; and it being his resolution at this juncture to +show his sincere inclination for peace, he gave them his word of honour +that his armies should not stir during the treaty; but that in case his +troops might be serviceable to the Parliament, they were at their +disposal, to be commanded by French officers; and that to obviate all the +reasonable jealousies generally, attending the conduct of foreigners, +they, were at liberty to take all other precautions they should think +proper. + +Before his admission the Prdsident de Mesmes had loaded me with +invectives, for secretly corresponding with the enemies of the State, for +favouring his admission, and for opposing that of my sovereign's herald. + +I had observed that when the objections against a man are capable of +making greater impression than his answers, it is his best course to say +but little, and that he may talk as much as he pleases when he thinks his +answers of greater force than the objections. I kept strictly to this +rule, for though the said President artfully pointed his satire at me, I +sat unconcerned till I found the Parliament was charmed with what the +envoy had said, and then, in my turn, I was even with the President by +telling him in short that my respect for the Parliament had obliged me to +put up with his sarcasms, which I had hitherto endured; and that I did +not suppose he meant that his sentiments should always be a law to the +Parliament; that nobody there had a greater esteem for him, with which I +hoped that the innocent freedom I had taken to speak my mind was not +inconsistent; that as to the non-admission of the herald, had it not been +for the motion made by M. Broussel, I should have fallen into the snare +through overcredulity, and have given my vote for that which might +perhaps have ended in the destruction of the city, and involved myself in +what has since fully proved to be a crime by the Queen's late solemn +approbation of the contrary conduct; and that, as to the envoy, I was +silent till I saw most of them were for giving him audience, when I +thought it better to vote the same way than vainly to contest it. + +This modest and submissive answer of mine to all the scurrilities heaped +upon me for a fortnight together by the First President and the President +de Mesmes had an excellent effect upon the members, and obliterated for a +long time the suspicion that I aimed to govern them by my cabals. The +President de Mesmes would have replied, but his words were drowned in the +general clamour. The clock struck five; none had dined, and many had not +broken their fast, which the Presidents had, and therefore had the +advantage in disputation. + +The decree ordering the admission of the Spanish envoy to audience +directed that a copy of what he said in Parliament, signed with his own +hand, should be demanded of him, to the end that it might be registered, +and that, by a solemn deputation, it should be sent to the Queen, with an +assurance of the fidelity of the Parliament, beseeching her at the same +time to withdraw her troops from the neighbourhood of Paris and restore +peace to her people. It being now very late, and the members very +hungry,--circumstances that have greater influence than can be imagined +in debates, they were upon the point of letting this clause pass for want +of due attention. The President Le Coigneux was the first that +discovered the grand mistake, and, addressing himself to a great many +councillors, who were rising up, said, "Gentlemen, pray take your places +again, for I have something to offer to the House which is of the highest +importance to all Europe." When they had taken their places he spoke as +follows: + +"The King of Spain takes us for arbiters of the general peace; it may be +he is not in earnest, but yet it is a compliment to tell us so. He +offers us troops to march to our relief, and it is certain he does not +deceive us in this respect, but highly obliges us. We have heard his +envoy, and considering the circumstances we are in, we think it right so +to do. We have resolved to give an account of this matter to the King, +which is but reasonable; some imagine that we propose to send the +original decree, but here lies the snake in the grass. I protest, +monsieur," added he, turning to the First President, "that the members +did not understand it so, but that the copy only should be carried to +Court, and the original be kept in the register. I could wish there had +been no occasion for explanation, because there are some occasions when +it is not prudent to speak all that one thinks, but since I am forced to +it, I must say it without further hesitation, that in case we deliver up +the original the Spaniards will conclude that we expose their proposals +for a general peace and our own safety to the caprice of Cardinal +Mazarin; whereas, by delivering only a copy, accompanied with humble +entreaties for a general peace, as the Parliament has wisely ordered, all +Europe will see that we maintain ourselves in a condition capable of +doing real service both to our King and country, if the Cardinal is so +blind as not to take a right advantage of this opportunity." + +This discourse was received with the approbation of all the members, who +cried out from all corners of the House that this was the meaning of the +House. The gentlemen of the Court of Inquests did not spare the +Presidents. M. Martineau said publicly that the tenor of this decree was +that the envoy of Spain should be made much of till they received an +answer from Saint Germain, which would prove to be another taunt of the +Cardinal's. Pontcarre said he was not so much afraid of a Spaniard as of +a Mazarin. In short, the generals had the satisfaction to see that the +Parliament would not be sorry for any advances they should make towards +an alliance with Spain. + +We sent a courier to Brussels, who was guarded ten leagues out of Paris +by 500 horse, with an account of everything done in Parliament, of the +conditions which the Prince de Conti and the other generals desired for +entering into a treaty with Spain, and of what engagement I could make in +my own private capacity. + +After he had gone I had a conference with M. de Bouillon and his lady +about the present state of affairs, which I observed was very ticklish; +that if we were favoured by the general inclination of the people we +should carry all before us, but that the Parliament, which was our chief +strength in one sense, was in other respects our main weakness; that they +were very apt to go backward; that in the very last debate they were on +the point of twisting a rope for their own necks, and that the First +President would show Mazarin his true interests, and be glad to amuse us +by stipulating with the Court for our security without putting us in +possession of it, and by ending the civil war in the confirmation of our +slavery. "The Parliament," I said, "inclines to an insecure and +scandalous peace. We can make the people rise to-morrow if we please; +but ought we to attempt it? And if we divest the Parliament of its +authority, into what an abyss of disorders shall we not precipitate +Paris? But, on the other hand, if we do not raise the people, will the +Parliament ever believe we can? Will they be hindered from taking any +further step in favour of the Court, destructive indeed to their own +interest, but infallibly ruinous to us first?" + +M. de Bouillon, who did not believe our affairs to be in so critical a +situation, was, together with his lady, in a state of surprise. The mild +and honourable answer which the Queen returned to the King's councillors +in relation to the herald, her protestations that she sincerely forgave +all the world, and the brilliant gloss of Talon upon her said answer, in +an instant overturned the former resolutions of the Parliament; and if +they regained sometimes their wonted vigour, either by some intervening +accidents or by the skilful management of those who took care to bring +them back to the right way, they had still an inclination to recede. M. +de Bouillon being the wisest man of the party, I told him what I thought, +and with him I concerted proper measures. To the rest, I put on a +cheerful air, and magnified every little circumstance of affairs to our +own advantage. + +M. de Bouillon proposed that we should let the Parliament and the Hotel +de Ville go on in their own way, and endeavour all we could clandestinely +to make them odious to the people, and that we should take the first +opportunity to secure, by banishment or imprisonment, such persons as we +could not depend upon. He added that Longueville, too, was of opinion +that there was no remedy left but to purge the Houses. This was exactly +like him, for never was there a man so positive and violent in his +opinion, and yet no man living could palliate it with smoother language. +Though I thought of this expedient before M. de Bouillon, and perhaps +could have said more for it, because I saw the possibility of it much +clearer than he, yet I would not give him to understand that I had +thought of it, because I knew he had the vanity to love to be esteemed +the first author of things, which was the only weakness I observed in his +managing State affairs. I left him an answer in writing, in substance as +follows: + +"I confess the scheme is very feasible, but attended with pernicious +consequences both to the public and to private persons, for the same +people whom you employ to humble the magistracy will refuse you obedience +when you demand from them the same homage they paid to the magistrates. +This people adored the Parliament till the beginning of the war; they are +still for continuing the war, and yet abate their friendship for the +Parliament. The Parliament imagines that this applies only to some +particular members who are Mazarined, but they are deceived, for their +prejudice extends to the whole company, and their hatred towards +Mazarin's party supports and screens their indifference towards all the +rest. We cheer up their spirits by pasquinades and ballads and the +martial sound of trumpets and kettle-drums, but, after all, do they pay +their taxes as punctually as they did the first few weeks? Are there +many that have done as you and I, monsieur, who sent our plate to the +mint? Do you not observe that they who would be thought zealous for the +common cause plead in favour of some acts committed by those men who are, +in short, its enemies? If the people are so tired already, what will +they be long before they come to their journey's end? + +"After we have established our own authority upon the ruin of the +Parliament's, we shall certainly fall into the same inconveniences and be +obliged to act just as they do now. We shall impose taxes, raise moneys, +and differ from the Parliament only in this, that the hatred and envy +they have contracted by various ways from one-third part of the +people,--I mean the wealthy citizens,--in the space of six weeks will +devolve upon us, with that of the other two-thirds of the inhabitants, +and will complete our ruin in one week. May not the Court to-morrow put +an end to the civil war by the expulsion of Mazarin and by raising the +siege of Paris? The provinces are not yet sufficiently inflamed, and +therefore we must double our application to make the most of Paris. +Besides the necessity of treating with Spain and managing the people, +there is another expedient come into my head capable of rendering us as +considerable in Parliament as our affairs require. + +"We have an army in Paris which will be looked upon as the people so long +as it continues within its walls. Every councillor of inquest is +inclined to believe his authority among the soldiers to be equal to that +of the generals. But the leaders of the people are not believed to be +very powerful until they make their power known by its execution. Pray +do but consider the conduct of the Court upon this occasion. Was there +any minister or courtier but ridiculed all that could be said of the +disposition of the people in favour of the Parliament even to the day of +the barricades? And yet it is as true that every man at Court saw +infallible marks of the revolution beforehand. One would have thought +that the barricades should have convinced them; but have they been +convinced? Have they been hindered from besieging Paris on the slight +supposition that, though the caprice of the people might run them into a +mutiny, yet it would not break out into a civil war? What we are now +doing might undeceive them effectually; but are they yet cured of their +infatuation? Is not the Queen told every day that none are for the +Parliament but hired mobs, and that all the wealthy burghers are in her +Majesty's interests? + +"The Parliament is now as much infatuated as the Court was then. This +present disturbance among the people carries in it all the marks of power +which, in a little time, they will feel the effects of, and which, as +they cannot but foresee, they ought to prevent in time, because of the +murmurs of the people against them and their redoubled affection for M. +de Beaufort and me. But far from it, the Parliament will never open its +eyes until all its authority is quashed by a sudden blow. If they see we +have a design against them they will, perhaps, have so inconsiderable an +opinion of it that they will take courage, and if we should but flinch, +they will bear harder still upon us, till we shall be forced to crush +them; but this would not turn to our account; on the contrary, it is our +true interest to do them all the good we can, lest we divide our own +party, and to behave in such a manner as may convince them that our +interest and theirs are inseparable. And the best way is to draw our +army out of Paris, and to post it so as it may be ready to secure our +convoys and be safe from the insults of the enemy; and I am for having +this done at the request of the Parliament, to prevent their taking +umbrage, till such time at least as we may find our account in it. Such +precautions will insensibly, as it were, necessitate the Parliament to +act in concert with us, and our favour among the people, which is the +only thing that can fix us in that situation, will appear to them no +longer contemptible when they see it backed by an army which is no longer +at their discretion." + +M. de Bouillon told me that M. de Turenne was upon the point of declaring +for us, and that there were but two colonels in all his army who gave him +any uneasiness, but that in a week's time he would find some way or other +to manage them, and that then he would march directly to our assistance. +"What do you think of that?" said the Duke. "Are we not now masters both +of the Court and Parliament?" + +I told the Duke that I had just seen a letter written by Hoquincourt to +Madame de Montbazon, wherein were only these words: "O fairest of all +beauties, Peronne is in your power." I added that I had received another +letter that morning which assured me of Mazieres. Madame de Bouillon +threw herself on my neck; we were sure the day was our own, and in a +quarter of an hour agreed upon all the preliminary precautions. + +M. de Bouillon, perceiving that I was so overjoyed at this news that I, +as well as his lady, gave little attention to the methods he was +proposing for drawing the army out of Paris without alarming the +Parliament, turned to me and spoke thus, very hastily: "I pardon my wife, +but I cannot forgive you this inadvertence. The old Prince of Orange +used to say that the moment one received good news should be employed in +providing against bad." + +The 24th of February, 1649, the Parliament's deputies waited on the Queen +with an account of the audience granted to the envoy of the Archduke. The +Queen told them that they should not have given audience to the envoy, +but that, seeing they had done it, it was absolutely necessary to think +of a good peace,--that she was entirely well disposed; and the Duc +d'Orleans and the Prince de Conde promised the deputies to throw open all +the passages as soon as the Parliament should name commissioners for the +treaty. + +Flamarin being sent at the same time into the city from the Duc d'Orleans +to condole with the Queen of England on the death of her husband (King +Charles I.), went, at La Riviere's solicitation, to M. de La +Rochefoucault, whom he found in his bed on account of his wounds and +quite wearied with the civil war, and persuaded him to come over to the +Court interest. He told Flamarin that he had been drawn into this war +much against his inclinations, and that, had he returned from Poitou two +months before the siege of Paris, he would have prevented Madame de +Longueville engaging in so vile a cause, but that I had taken the +opportunity of his absence to engage both her and the Prince de Conti, +that he found the engagements too far advanced to be possibly dissolved, +that the diabolical Coadjutor would not bear of any terms of peace, and +also stopped the ears of the Prince de Conti and Madame de Longueville, +and that he himself could not act as he would because of his bad state of +health. I was informed of Flamarin's negotiations for the Court +interest, and, as the term of his passport had expired, ordered the +'prevot des marchands' to command him to depart from the city. + +On the 27th the First President reported to the Parliament what had +occurred at Saint Germain. M. de Beaufort and I had to hinder the people +from entering the Great Chamber, for they threatened to throw the +deputies into the river, and said they had betrayed them and had held +conferences with Mazarin. It was as much as we could do to allay the +fury of the people, though at the same time the Parliament believed the +tumult was of our own raising. This shows one inconvenience of +popularity, namely, that what is committed by the rabble, in spite of all +your endeavours to the contrary, will still be laid to your charge. + +Meanwhile we met at the Duc de Bouillon's to consider what was best to be +done at this critical juncture between a people mad for war, a Parliament +for peace, and the Spaniards either for peace or war at our expense and +for their own advantage. The Prince de Conti, instructed beforehand by +M. de La Rochefoucault, spoke for carrying on the war, but acted as if he +were for peace, and upon the whole I did not doubt but that he waited for +some answer from Saint Germain. M. d'Elbeuf made a silly proposal to +send the Parliament in a body to the Bastille. M. de Beaufort, whom we +could not entrust with any important secret because of Madame de +Montbazon, who was very false, wondered that his and my credit with the +people was not made use of on this occasion. + +It being very evident that the Parliament would greedily catch at the +treaty of peace proposed by the Court, it was in a manner impossible to +answer those who urged that the only way to prevent it was to hinder +their debates by raising tumults among the people. M. de Beaufort held +up both his hands for it. M. d'Elbeuf, who had lately received a letter +from La Riviere full of contempt, talked like an officer of the army. +When I considered the great risk I ran if I did not prevent a tumult, +which would certainly be laid at my door, and that, on the other hand, I +did not dare to say all I could to stop such commotion, I was at a loss +what to do. But considering the temper of the populace, who might have +been up in arms with a word from a person of any credit among us, I +declared publicly that I was not for altering our measures till we knew +what we were to expect from the Spaniards. + +I experienced on this occasion that civil wars are attended with this +great inconvenience, that there is more need of caution in what we say to +our friends than in what we do against our enemies. I did not fail to +bring the company to my mind, especially when supported by M. de +Bouillon, who was convinced that the confusion which would happen in such +a juncture would turn with vengeance upon the authors. But when the +company was gone he told me he was resolved to free himself from the +tyranny, or, rather, pedantry of the Parliament as soon as the treaty +with Spain was concluded, and M. de Turenne had declared himself +publicly, and as soon as our army was without the walls of Paris. I +answered that upon M. de Turenne's declaration I would promise him my +concurrence, but that till then I could not separate from the Parliament, +much less oppose them, without the danger of being banished to Brussels; +that as for his own part, he might come off better because of his +knowledge of military affairs, and of the assurances which Spain was able +to give him, but, nevertheless, I desired him to remember M. d'Aumale, +who fell into the depth of poverty as soon as he had lost all protection +but that of Spain, and, consequently, that it was his interest as well as +mine to side with the Parliament till we ourselves had secured some +position in the kingdom; till the Spanish army, was actually on the march +and our troops were encamped without the city; and till the declaration +of M. de Turenne was carried out, which would be the decisive blow, +because it would strengthen our party with a body of troops altogether +independent of strangers, or rather it would form a party perfectly +French, capable by its own strength to carry on our cause. + +This last consideration overjoyed Madame de Bouillon, who, however, when +she found that the company was gone without resolving to make themselves +masters of the Parliament, became very angry, and said to the Duke: + +"I told you beforehand that you would be swayed by the Coadjutor." + +The Duke replied: "What! madame, would you have the Coadjutor, for our +sakes only, run the risk of being no more than chaplain to Fuensaldagne? +Is it possible that you cannot comprehend what he has been preaching to +you for these last three days?" + +I replied to her with a great deal of temper, and said, "Don't you think +that we shall act more securely when our troops are out of Paris, when we +receive the Archduke's answer, and when Turenne has made a public +declaration?" + +"Yes, I do," she said, "but the Parliament will take one step to-morrow +which will render all your preliminaries of no use." + +"Never fear, madame," said I, "I will undertake that, if our measures +succeed, we shall be in a condition to despise all that the Parliament +can do." + +"Will you promise it?" she asked. + +"Yes," said I, "and, more than that, I am ready to seal it with my +blood." + +She took me at my word, and though the Duke used all the arguments with +her which he could think of, she bound my thumb with silk, and with a +needle drew blood, with which she obliged me to sign a promissory note as +follows: "I promise to Madame la Duchesse de Bouillon to continue united +with the Duke her husband against the Parliament in case M. de Turenne +approaches with the army under his command within twenty leagues of Paris +and declares for the city." M. de Bouillon threw it into the fire, and +endeavoured to convince the Duchess of what I had said, that if our +preliminaries should succeed we should still stand upon our own bottom, +notwithstanding all that the Parliament could do, and that if they did +miscarry we should still have the satisfaction of not being the authors +of a confusion which would infallibly cover me with shame and ruin, and +be an uncertain advantage to the family of De Bouillon. + +During this discussion a captain in M. d'Elbeuf's regiment of Guards was +seen to throw money to the crowd to encourage them to go to the +Parliament House and cry out, "No peace!" upon which M. de Bouillon and I +agreed to send the Duke these words upon the back of a card: "It will be +dangerous for you to be at the Parliament House to-morrow." M. d'Elbeuf +came in all haste to the Palace of Bouillon to know the meaning of this +short caution. M. de Bouillon told him he had heard that the people had +got a notion that both the Duke and himself held a correspondence with +Mazarin, and that therefore it was their best way not to go to the House +for fear of the mob, which might be expected there next day. + +M. d'Elbeuf, knowing that the people did not care for him, and that he +was no safer in his own house than elsewhere, said that he feared his +absence on such an occasion might be interpreted to his disadvantage. M. +de Bouillon, having no other design but to alarm him with imaginary fears +of a public disturbance, at once made himself sure of him another way, by +telling him it was most advisable for him to be at the Parliament, but +that he need not expose himself, and therefore had best go along with me. + +I went with him accordingly, and found a multitude of people in the Great +Hall, crying, "God bless the Coadjutor! no peace! no Mazarin!" and M. +de Beaufort entering another way at the same time, the echoes of our +names spread everywhere, so that the people mistook it for a concerted +design to disturb the proceedings of Parliament, and as in a commotion +everything that confirms us in the belief of it augments likewise the +number of mutineers, we were very near bringing about in one moment what +we had been a whole week labouring to prevent. + +The First President and President de Mesmes having, in concert with the +other deputies, suppressed the answer the Queen made them in writing, +lest some harsh expressions contained therein should give offence, put +the best colour they could upon the obliging terms in which the Queen had +spoken to them; and then the House appointed commissioners for the +treaty, leaving it to the Queen to name the place, and agreed to send the +King's Council next day to demand the opening of the passages, in +pursuance of the Queen's promise. The President de Mesmes, surprised to +meet with no opposition, either from the generals or myself, said to the +First President, "Here is a wonderful harmony! but I fear the +consequences of this dissembled moderation." I believe he was much more +surprised when the sergeants came to acquaint the House that the mob +threatened to murder all that were for the conference before Mazarin was +sent out of the kingdom. But M. de Beaufort and I went out and soon +dispersed them, so that the members retired without the least danger, +which inspired the Parliament with such a degree of boldness afterwards +that it nearly proved their ruin. + +On the 2d of March, 1649, letters were brought to the Parliament from the +Duc d'Orleans and the Prince de Conde, expressing a great deal of joy at +what the Parliament had done, but denying that the Queen had promised to +throw open the passages, upon which the Parliament fell into such a rage +as I cannot describe to you. They sent orders to the King's Council, who +were gone that morning to Saint Germain to fetch the passports for the +deputies, to declare that the Parliament was resolved to hold no +conference with the Court till the Queen had performed her promise made +to the First President. I thought it a very proper time to let the Court +see that the Parliament had not lost all its vigour, and made a motion, +by Broussel, that, considering the insincerity of the Court, the levies +might be continued and new commissions given out. The proposition was +received with applause, and the Prince de Conti was desired to issue +commissions accordingly. + +M. de Beaufort, in concert with M. de Bouillon, M. de La Mothe and +myself, exclaimed against this contravention, and offered, in the name of +his colleagues and his own, to open all the passages themselves if the +Parliament would but take a firm resolution and be no more beguiled by +deceitful proposals, which had only served to keep the whole nation in +suspense, who would otherwise have declared by this time in favour of its +capital. It is inconceivable what influence these few words had upon the +audience, everybody concluded that the treaty was already broken off; but +a moment after they thought the contrary, for the King's Council returned +with the passports for the deputies, and instead of an order for opening +the passages, a grant--such a one as it was--of 500 quarters of corn per +diem was made for the subsistence of the city. However, the Parliament +took all in good part; all that had been said and done a quarter of an +hour before was buried in oblivion, and they made preparations to go next +day to Ruel, the place named by the Queen for the conference. + +The Prince de Conti, M. de Beaufort, M. d'Elbeuf, Marechal de La Mothe, +M. de Brissac, President Bellievre, and myself met that night at M. de +Bouillon's house, where a motion was made for the generals of the army to +send a deputation likewise to the place of conference; but it was +quashed, and indeed nothing would have been more absurd than such a +proceeding when we were upon the point of concluding a treaty with Spain; +and, considering that we told the envoy that we should never have +consented to hold any conference with the Court were we not assured that +it was in our power to break it off at pleasure by means of the people. + +The Parliament having lately reproached both the generals and troops with +being afraid to venture without the gates, M. de Bouillon, seeing the +danger was over, proposed at this meeting, for the satisfaction of the +citizens, to carry them to a camp betwixt the Marne and the Seine, where +they might be as safe as at Paris. The motion was agreed to without +consulting the Parliament, and, accordingly, on the 4th of March, the +troops marched out and the deputies of Parliament went to Ruel. + +The Court party flattered themselves that, upon the marching of the +militia out of Paris, the citizens, being left to themselves, would +become more tractable, and the President de Mesmes made his boast of what +he said to the generals, to persuade them to encamp their army. But +Senneterre, one of the ablest men at Court, soon penetrated our designs +and undeceived the Court. He told the First President and De Mesmes that +they were beguiled and that they would see it in a little time. The +First President, who could never see two different things at one view, +was so overjoyed when he heard the forces had gone out of Paris that he +cried out: + +"Now the Coadjutor will have no more mercenary brawlers at the Parliament +House." + +"Nor," said the President de Mesmes, "so many cutthroats." + +Senneterre, like a wise man, said to them both: + +"It is not the Coadjutor's interest to murder you, but to bring you +under. The people would serve his turn for the first if he aimed at it, +and the army is admirably well encamped for the latter. If he is not a +more honest man than he is looked upon to be here, we are likely to have +a tedious civil war." + +The Cardinal confessed that Senneterre was in the right, for, on the one +hand, the Prince de Conde perceived that our army, being so +advantageously posted as not to be attacked, would be capable of giving +him more trouble than if they were still within the walls of the city, +and, on the other hand, we began to talk with more courage in Parliament +than usual. + +The afternoon of the 4th of March gave us a just occasion to show it. The +deputies arriving at Ruel understood that Cardinal Mazarin was one of the +commissioners named by the Queen to assist at the conference. The +Parliamentary deputies pretended that they could not confer with a person +actually condemned by Parliament. M. de Tellier told them in the name of +the Duc d'Orleans that the Queen thought it strange that they were not +contented to treat upon an equality with their sovereign, but that they +should presume to limit his authority by excluding his deputies. The +First President and the Court seeming to be immovable, we sent orders to +our deputies not to comply, and to communicate, as a great secret, to +President de Mesmes and M. Menardeau, both creatures of the Court, the +following postscript of a letter I wrote to Longueville: + +"P.S.--We have concerted our measures, and are now capable to speak more +to the purpose than we have been hitherto, and since I finished this +letter I have received a piece of news which obliges me to tell you that +if the Parliament do not behave very prudently, they will certainly be +ruined." + +Upon this the deputies were resolved to insist upon excluding the +Cardinal from the conference, a determination which was so odious to the +people that, had we permitted it, we should certainly have lost all our +credit with them, and been obliged to shut the gates against our deputies +upon their return. + +When the Court saw that the deputies desired a convoy to conduct them +home, they found out an expedient, which was received with great joy; +namely, to appoint two deputies on the part of the Parliament, and two on +the part of the King, to confer at the house of the Duc d'Orleans, +exclusive of the Cardinal, who was thereupon obliged to return to Saint +Germain with mortification. + +On the 5th of March, Don Francisco Pisarro, a second envoy from the +Archduke, arrived in Paris, with his and Count Fuensaldagne's answer to +our former despatches by Don Jose d'Illescas, and full powers for a +treaty; instructions for M. de Bouillon, an obliging letter from the +Archduke to the Prince de Conti, and another to myself, from Count +Fuensaldagne, importing that the King, his master, would not take my +word, but would depend upon whatever I promised Madame de Bouillon. + +The Prince de Conti and Madame de Longueville, prompted by M. de La +Rochefoucault, were for an alliance with Spain, in a manner without +restriction. M. d'Elbeuf aimed at nothing but getting money. M. de +Beaufort, at the persuasion of Madame de Montbazon, who was resolved to +sell him dear to the Spaniards, was very scrupulous to enter into a +treaty with the enemies of the State; Marechal de La Mothe declared he +could not come to any resolution till he saw M. de Longueville, and +Madame de Longueville questioned whether her husband would come into it; +and yet these very persons but a fortnight before unanimously wrote to +the Archduke for full powers to treat with him. + +M. de Bouillon told them that he thought they were absolutely obliged to +treat with Spain, considering the advances they had already made to the +Archduke to that end, and desired them to recollect how they had told his +envoy that they waited only for these full powers and instructions to +treat with him; that the Archduke had now sent his full powers in the +most obliging manner; and that, moreover, he had already gone out of +Brussels, to lead his army himself to their assistance, without staying +for their engagement. He begged them to consider that if they took the +least step backwards, after such advances, it might provoke Spain to take +such measures as would be both contrary to our security and to our +honour; that the ill-concerted proceedings of the Parliament gave us just +grounds to fear being left to shift for ourselves; that indeed our army +was now more useful than it had been before, but--yet not strong enough +to give us relief in proportion to our necessities, especially if it were +not, at least in the beginning, supported by a powerful force; and that, +consequently, a treaty was necessary to be entered into and concluded +with the Archduke, but not upon any mean conditions; that his envoys had +brought carte blanche, but that we ought to consider how to fill it up; +that he promised us everything, but though in treaties the strongest may +safely promise to the weaker what he thinks fit, it is certain he cannot +perform everything, and therefore the weakest should be very wary. + +The Duke added that the Spaniards, of all people, expected honourable +usage at the beginning of treaties, and he conjured them to leave the +management of the Spanish envoys to himself and the Coadjutor, "who," +said he, "has declared all along that he expects no advantage either from +the present troubles or from any arrangement, and is therefore altogether +to be depended upon." + +This discourse was relished by all the company, who accordingly engaged +us to compare notes with the envoys of Spain, and make our report to the +Prince de Conti and the other generals. + +M. de Bouillon assured me that the Spaniards would not enter upon French +ground till we engaged ourselves not to lay down our arms except in +conjunction with them; that is, in a treaty for a general peace; but our +difficulty was how to enter into an engagement of that nature at a time +when we could not be sure but that the Parliament might conclude a +particular peace the next moment. In the meantime a courier came in from +M. de Turenne, crying, "Good news!" as he entered into the court. He +brought letters for Madame and Mademoiselle de Bouillon and myself, by +which we were assured that M. de Turenne and his army, which was without +dispute the finest at that time in all Europe, had declared for us; that +Erlach, Governor of Brisac, had with him 1,000 or 1,200 men, who were all +he had been able to seduce; that my dear friend and kinsman, the Vicomte +de Lamet, was marching directly to our assistance with 2,000 horse; and +that M. de Turenne was to follow on such a day with the larger part of +the army. You will be surprised, without doubt, to hear that M. de +Turenne, General of the King's troops, one who was never a party man, +and would never hear talk of party intrigues, should now declare against +the Court and perform an action which, I am sure, Le Balafre and Amiral +de Coligny would not have undertaken without hesitation. + +[Henri de Lorraine, first of that name, Duc de Guise, surnamed Le +Balafre, because of a wound he received in the left cheek at the battle +of Dormans, the scar of which he carried to his grave. He formed the +League, and was stabbed at an assembly of the States of Blois in 1588.] + +Your wonder will increase yet more when I tell you that the motive of +this surprising conduct of his is a secret to this day. His behaviour +also during his declaration, which he supported but five days, is +equally surprising and mysterious. This shows that it is possible for +some extraordinary characters to be raised above the malice and envy of +vulgar souls; for the merit of any person inferior to the Marshal must +have been totally eclipsed by such an unaccountable event. + +Upon the arrival of this express from Turenne I told M. de Bouillon it +was my opinion that, if the Spaniards would engage to advance as far as +Pont-a-Verre and act on this side of it in concert only with us, we +should make no scruple of pledging ourselves not to lay down our arms +till the conclusion of a general peace, provided they kept their promise +given to the Parliament of referring themselves to its arbitration. "The +true interest of the public," said I, "is a general peace, that of the +Parliament and other bodies is the reestablishment of good order, and +that of your Grace and others, with myself, is to contribute to the +before-mentioned blessings in such manner that we may be esteemed the +authors of them; all other advantages are necessarily attached to this, +and the only way to acquire them is to show that we do not value them. +You know that I have frequently vowed I had no private interest to serve +in this affair, and I will keep my vow to the end. Your circumstances +are different from mine; you aim at Sedan, and you are in the right. M. +de Beaufort wants to be admiral, and I cannot blame him. M. de +Longueville has other demands--with all my heart. The Prince de Conti +and Madame de Longueville would be, for the future, independent of the +Prince de Conde; that independence they shall have. + +"Now, in order to attain to these ends, the only means is to look another +way, to turn all our thoughts to bring about a general peace, and to sign +to-morrow the most solemn and positive engagement with the enemy, and, +the better to please the public, to insert in the articles the expulsion +of Cardinal Mazarin as their mortal enemy, to cause the Spanish forces to +come up immediately to Pont-a-Verre, and those of M. de Turenne to +advance into Champagne, and to go without any loss of time to propose to +the Parliament what Don Josh d'Illescas has offered them already in +relation to a general peace, to dispose them to vote as we would have +them, which they will not fail to do considering the circumstances we are +now in, and to send orders to our deputies at Ruel either to get the +Queen to nominate a place to confer about a general peace or to return +the next day to their seats in Parliament. I am willing to think that +the Court, seeing to what an extremity they are reduced, will comply, +than which what can be more for our honour? + +"And if the Court should refuse this proposition at present, will they +not be of another mind before two months are at an end? Will not the +provinces, which are already hesitating, then declare in our favour? And +is the army of the Prince de Conde in a condition to engage that of Spain +and ours in conjunction with that of M. de Turenne? These two last, when +joined, will put us above all the apprehensions from foreign forces which +have hitherto made us uneasy; they will depend much more on us than we on +them; we shall continue masters of Paris by our own strength, and the +more securely because the intervening authority of Parliament will the +more firmly unite us to the people. The declaration of M. de Turenne is +the only means to unite Spain with the Parliament for our defence, which +we could not have as much as hoped for otherwise; it gives us an +opportunity to engage with Parliament, in concert with whom we cannot act +amiss, and this is the only moment when such an engagement is both +possible and profitable. The First President and De Mesmes are now out +of the way, and it will be much easier for us to obtain what we want in +Parliament than if they were present, and if what is commanded in the +Parliamentary decree is faithfully executed, we shall gain our point, and +unite the Chambers for that great work of a general peace. If the Court +still rejects our proposals, and those of the deputies who are for the +Court refuse to follow our motion or to share in our fortune, we shall +gain as much in another respect; we shall keep ourselves still attached +to the body of the Parliament, from which they will be deemed deserters, +and we shall have much greater weight in the House than now. + +"This is my opinion, which I am willing to sign and to offer to the +Parliament if you seize this, the only opportunity. For if M. de Turenne +should alter his mind before it be done, I should then oppose this scheme +with as much warmth as I now recommend it." + +The Duke said in answer: "Nothing can have a more promising aspect than +what you have now proposed; it is very practicable, but equally +pernicious for all private persons. Spain will promise all, but perform +nothing after we have once promised to enter into no treaty, with the +Court but for a general peace. This being the only thing the Spaniards +have in view, they will abandon us as soon as they, can obtain it, and if +we urge on this great scheme at once, as you would have us, they would +undoubtedly obtain it in a fortnight's time, for France would certainly +make it with precipitation, and I know the Spaniards would be glad to +purchase it on any terms. This being the case, in what a condition shall +we be the next day after we have made and procured this general peace? We +should indeed have the honour of it, but would this honour screen us +against the hatred and curses of the Court? Would the house of Austria +take up arms again to rescue you and me from a prison? You will say, +perhaps, we may stipulate some conditions with Spain which may secure us +from all insults of this kind; but I think I shall have answered this +objection when I assure you that Spain is so pressed with home troubles +that she would not hesitate, for the sake of peace, to break the most +solemn promises made to us; and this is an inconvenience for which I see +no remedy. + +"If Spain should be worse than her word with respect to the expulsion of +Mazarin, what will become of us? And will the honour of our contributing +to the general peace atone for the preservation of a minister to get rid +of whom they took up arms? You know how they abhor the Cardinal; and, +suppose the Cardinal be excluded from the Ministry, according to promise, +shall we not still be exposed to the hatred of the Queen, to the +resentment of the Prince de Conde, and to all the evil consequences that +may be expected from an enraged Court for such an action? There is no +true glory but what is durable; transitory honour is mere smoke. Of this +sort is that which we shall acquire by this peace, if we do not support +it by such alliances as will gain us the reputation of wisdom as well as +of honesty. I admire your disinterestedness above all, and esteem it, +but I am very well assured that if mine went the length of yours you +would not, approve of it. Your family is settled; consider mine, and +cast your eyes on the condition of this lady and on that of both the +father and children." + +I answered: "The Spaniards must needs have great regard for us, seeing us +absolute masters of Paris, with eight thousand foot and three thousand +horse at its gates, and the best disciplined troops in the world marching +to our assistance." I did all I could to bring him over to my opinion, +and he strove as much to persuade me to enter into his measures; namely, +to pretend to the envoys that we were absolutely resolved to act in +concert with them for a general peace, but to tell them at the same time +that we thought it more proper that the Parliament should likewise be +consulted; and, as that would require some time, we might in the +meanwhile occupy the envoys by signing a treaty with them, previous to +coming to terms with. The Parliament, which by its tenor would not tie +us up to conclude anything positively in relation to the general peace; +"yet this," said he, "would be a sufficient motive to cause them to +advance with their army, and that of my brother will come up at the same +time, which will astonish the Court and incline them to an arrangement. +And forasmuch as in our treaty with Spain we leave a back door open by +the clause which relates to the Parliament, we shall be sure to make good +use of it for the advantage of the public and of ourselves in case of the +Court's noncompliance." + +These considerations, though profoundly wise, did not convince me, +because I thought his inference was not well-grounded. I saw he might +well enough engage the attention of the envoys, but I could not imagine +how he could beguile the Parliament, who were actually treating with the +Court by their deputies sent to Ruel, and who would certainly run madly +into a peace, notwithstanding all their late performances. I foresaw +that without a public declaration to restrain the Parliament from going +their own lengths we should fall again, if one of our strings chanced to +break, into the necessity of courting the assistance of the people, which +I looked upon as the most dangerous proceeding of all. + +M. de Bouillon asked me what I meant by saying, "if one of our strings +chanced to break." I replied, "For example, if M. de Turenne should be +dead at this juncture, or if his army has revolted, as it was likely to +do under the influence of M. d'Erlach, pray what would become of us if we +should not engage the Parliament? We should be tribunes of the people +one day, and the next valets de chambre to Count Fuensaldagne. Everything +with the Parliament and nothing without them is the burden of my song." + +After several hours' dispute neither of us was convinced, and I went away +very much perplexed, the rather because M. de Bouillon, being the great +confidant of the Spaniards, I doubted not but he could make their envoys +believe what he pleased. + +I was still more puzzled when I came home and found a letter from Madame +de Lesdiguieres, offering me extraordinary advantages in the Queen's name +the payment of my debts, the grant of certain abbeys, and a nomination to +the dignity of cardinal. Another note I found with these words: "The +declaration of the army of Germany has put us all into consternation." I +concluded they would not fail to try experiments with others as well as +myself, and since M. de Bouillon began to think of a back door when all +things smiled upon us, I guessed the rest of our party would not neglect +to enter the great door now flung open to receive them by the declaration +of M. de Turenne. That which afflicted me most of all was to see that M. +de Bouillon was not a man of that judgment and penetration I took him for +in this critical and decisive juncture, when the question was the +engaging or not engaging the Parliament. He had urged me more than +twenty times to do what I now offered, and the reason why I now urged +what I before rejected was the declaration of M. de Turenne, his own +brother, which should have made him bolder than I; but, instead of this, +it slackened his courage, and he flattered himself that Cardinal Mazarin +would let him have Sedan. This was the centre of all his views, and he +preferred these petty advantages to what he might have gained by +procuring peace to Europe. This false step made me pass this judgment +upon the Duke: that, though he was a person of very great parts, yet I +questioned his capacity for the mighty things which he has not done, and +of which some men thought him very capable. It is the greatest +remissness on the part of a great man to neglect the moment that is to +make his reputation, and this negligence, indeed, scarcely ever happens +but when a man expects another moment as favourable to make his fortune; +and so people are commonly deceived both ways. + +The Duke was more nice than wise at this juncture, which is very often +the case. I found afterwards that the Prince de Conti was of his +opinion, and I guessed, by some circumstances, that he was engaged in +some private negotiation. M. d'Elbeuf was as meek as a lamb, and seemed, +as far as he dared, to improve what had been advanced already by M. de +Bouillon. A servant of his told me also that he believed his master had +made his peace with the Court. M. de Beaufort showed by his behaviour +that Madame de Montbazon had done what she could to cool his courage, but +his irresolution did not embarrass me very much, because I knew I had her +in my power, and his vote, added to that of MM. de Brissac, de La Mothe, +de Noirmoutier and de Bellievre, who all fell in with my sentiments, +would have turned the balance on my side if the regard for M. de Turenne, +who was now the life and soul of the party, and the Spaniards' confidence +in M. de Bouillon, had not obliged me to make a virtue of necessity. + +I found both the Archduke's envoys quite of an other mind; indeed, they +were still desirous of an agreement for a general peace, but they would +have it after the manner of M. de Bouillon, at two separate times, which +he had made them believe would be more for their advantage, because +thereby we should bring the Parliament into it. I saw who was at the +bottom of it, and, considering the orders they had to follow his advice +in everything, all I could allege to the contrary would be of no use. I +laid the state of affairs before the President de Bellievre, who was of +my opinion, and considered that a contrary course would infallibly prove +our ruin, thinking, nevertheless, that compliance would be highly +convenient at this time, because we depended absolutely on the Spaniards +and on M. de Turenne, who had hitherto made no proposals but such as were +dictated by M. de Bouillon. + +When I found that all M. de Bellievre and I said could not persuade M. de +Bouillon, I feigned to come round to his opinion, and to submit to the +authority of the Prince de Conti, our Generalissimo. We agreed to treat +with the Archduke upon the plan of M. de Bouillon; that is, that he +should advance his army as far as Pont-A-Verre, and further, if the +generals desired it; who, on their part, would omit nothing to oblige the +Parliament to enter into this treaty, or rather, to make a new one for a +general peace; that is to say, to oblige the King to treat upon +reasonable conditions, the particulars whereof his Catholic Majesty would +refer to the arbitration of the Parliament. M. de Bouillon engaged to +have this treaty 'in totidem verbis' signed by the Spanish ministers, and +did not so much as ask me whether I would sign it or no. All the company +rejoiced at having the Spaniards' assistance upon such easy terms, and at +being at full liberty to receive the propositions of the Court, which +now, upon the declaration of M. de Turenne, could not fail to be very +advantageous. + +The treaty was accordingly signed in the Prince de Conti's room at the +Hotel de Ville, but I forbore to set my hand to it, though solicited by +M. de Bouillon, unless they would come to some final resolution; yet I +gave them my word that, if the Parliament would be contented, I had such +expedients in my power as would give them all the time necessary to +withdraw their troops. I had two reasons for what I said: first, I knew +Fuensaldagne to be a wise man, that he would be of a different opinion +from his envoys, and that he would never venture his army into the heart +of the kingdom with so little assurance from the generals and none at all +from me; secondly, because I was willing to show to our generals that I +would not, as far as it lay in my power, suffer the Spaniards to be +treacherously surprised or insulted in case of an arrangement between the +Court and the Parliament; though I had protested twenty times in the same +conference that I would not separate myself from the Parliament. + +M. d'Elbeuf said, "You cannot find the expedients you talk of but in +having recourse to the people." + +"M. de Bouillon will answer for me," said I, "that it is not there that I +am to find my expedients." + +M. de Bouillon, being desirous that I should sign, said, "I know that it +is not your intent, but I am fully persuaded that you mean well, that you +do not act as you would propose, and that we retain more respect for the +Parliament by signing than you do by refusing to sign; for," speaking +very low, that he might not be heard by the Spanish ministers, "we keep a +back door open to get off handsomely with the Parliament." + +"They will open that door," said I, "when you could wish it shut, as is +but too apparent already, and you will be glad to shut it when you +cannot; the Parliament is not a body to be jested with." + +After the signing of the treaty, I was told that the envoys had given +2,000 pistoles to Madame de Montbazon and as much to M. d'Elbeuf. + +De Bellievre, who waited for me at home, whither I returned full of +vexation, used an expression which has been since verified by the event: +"We failed, this day," said he, "to induce the Parliament, which if we +had done, all had been safe and right. Pray God that everything goes +well, for if but one of our strings fails us we are undone." + +As for the conferences for a peace with the Court at Ruel, it was +proposed on the Queen's part that the Parliament should adjourn their +session to Saint Germain, just to ratify the articles of the peace, and +not to meet afterwards for two or three years; but the deputies of +Parliament insisted that it was their privilege to assemble when and +where they pleased. When these and the like stories came to the ears of +the Parisians they were so incensed that the only talk of the Great +Chamber was to recall the deputies, and the generals seeing themselves +now respected by the Court, who had little regard for them before the +declaration of M. de Turenne, thought that the more the Court was +embarrassed the better, and therefore incited the Parliament and people +to clamour, that the Cardinal might see that things did not altogether +depend upon the conference at Ruel. I, likewise, contributed what lay in +my power to moderate the precipitation of the First President and +President de Mesmes towards anything that looked like an agreement. + +On the 8th of March the Prince de Conti told the Parliament that M. de +Turenne offered them his services and person against Cardinal Mazarin, +the enemy of the State. I said that I was informed a declaration had +been issued the night before at Saint Germain against M. de Turenne, as +guilty of high treason. The Parliament unanimously passed a decree to +annul it, to authorise his taking arms, to enjoin all the King's subjects +to give him free passage and support, and to raise the necessary funds +for the payment of his troops, lest the 800,000 livres sent from Court to +General d'Erlach should corrupt the officers and soldiers. A severe +edict was issued against Courcelles, Lavardin, and Amilly, who had levied +troops for the King in the province of Maine, and the commonalty were +permitted to meet at the sound of the alarm-bell and to fall foul of all +those who had held assemblies without order of Parliament. + +On the 9th a decree was passed to suspend the conference till all the +promises made by the Court to allow the entry of provisions were +punctually executed. + +The Prince de Conti informed the House the same day that he was desired +by M. de Longueville to assure them that he would set out from Rouen on +the 15th with 7,000 foot and 3,000 horse, and march directly to Saint +Germain; the Parliament was incredibly overjoyed, and desired the Prince +de Conti to press him to hasten his march as much as possible. + +On the 10th the member for Normandy told the House that the Parliament of +Rennes only stayed for the Duc de la Tremouille to join against the +common enemy. + +On the 11th an envoy from M. de la Tremouille offered the Parliament, in +his master's name, 8,000 foot and 2,000 horse, who were in a condition to +march in two days, provided the House would permit his master to seize on +all the public money at Poitiers, Niort, and other places whereof he was +already master. The Parliament thanked him, passed a decree with full +powers accordingly, and desired him to hasten his levies with all +expedition. + +Posterity will hardly believe that, notwithstanding all this heat in the +party, which one would have thought could not have immediately +evaporated, a peace was made and signed the same day; but of this more by +and by. + +While the Court, as has been before hinted, was tampering with the +generals, Madame de Montbazon promised M. de Beaufort's support to the +Queen; but her Majesty understood that it was not to be done if I were +not at the market to approve of the sale. La Riviere despised M. +d'Elbeuf no longer. M. de Bouillon, since his brother's declaration, +seemed more inclined than before to come to an arrangement with the +Court, but his pretentions ran very high, and both the brothers were in +such a situation that a little assistance would not suffice, and as to +the offers made to myself by Madame de Lesdiguieres, I returned such an +answer as convinced the Court that I was not so easily to be moved. + +In short, Cardinal Mazarin found all the avenues to a negotiation either +shut or impassable. This despair of success in the Court was eventually +more to the advantage of the Court than the most refined politics, for it +did not hinder them from negotiating, the Cardinal's natural temper not +permitting him to do otherwise; but, however, he could not trust to the +carrying out of negotiations, and therefore beguiled our generals with +fair promises, while he remitted 800,000 livres to buy off the army of M. +de Turenne, and obliged the deputies at Ruel to sign a peace against the +orders of the Parliament that sent them. The President de Mesmes assured +me several times since that this peace was purely the result of a +conversation he had with the Cardinal on the 8th of March at night, when +his Eminence told him he saw plainly that M. de Bouillon would not treat +till he had the Spaniards and M. de Turenne at the gates of Paris; that +is, till he saw himself in the position to seize one-half of the kingdom. +The President made him this answer: + +"There is no hope of any security but in making the Coadjutor a +cardinal." + +To which Mazarin answered: "He is worse than the other, who at least +seemed once inclined to treat, but he is still for a general peace, or +for none at all." + +President de Mesmes replied: "If things are come to this pass we must be +the victims to save the State from perishing--we must sign the peace. For +after what the Parliament has done to-day there is no remedy, and perhaps +tomorrow we shall be recalled; if we are disowned in what we do we are +ruined, the gates of Paris will be shut against us, and we shall be +prosecuted and treated as prevaricators and traitors. It is our business +and concern to procure such conditions as will give us good ground to +justify our proceedings, and if the terms are but reasonable, we know how +to improve them against the factions; but make them as you please +yourself, I will sign them all, and will go this moment to acquaint the +First President that this is the only expedient to save the State. If it +takes effect we have peace, if we are disowned by the Parliament we still +weaken the faction, and the danger will fall upon none but ourselves." +He added that with much difficulty he had persuaded the First President. + +The peace was signed by Cardinal Mazarin, as well as by the other +deputies, on the part of the King. The substance of the articles was +that Parliament should just go to Saint Germain to proclaim the peace, +and then return to Paris, but hold no assembly that year; that all their +public decrees since the 6th of January should be made void, as likewise +all ordinances of Council, declarations and 'lettres de cachet'; that as +soon as the King had withdrawn his troops from Paris, all the forces +raised for the defence of the city should be disbanded, and the +inhabitants lay down their arms and not take them up again without the +King's order; that the Archduke's deputy should be dismissed without an +answer, that there should be a general amnesty, and that the King should +also give a general discharge for all the public money made use of, as +also for the movables sold and for all the arms and ammunition taken out +of the arsenal and elsewhere. + +M. and Madame de Bouillon were extremely surprised when they heard that +the peace was signed. I did not expect the Parliament would make it so +soon, but I said frequently that it would be a very shameful one if we +should let them alone to make it. M. de Bouillon owned that I had +foretold it often enough. "I confess," said he, "that we are entirely to +blame," which expression made me respect him more than ever, for I think +it a greater virtue for a man to confess a fault than not to commit one. +The Prince de Conti, MM. d'Elbeuf, de Beaufort, and de La Mothe were very +much surprised, too, at the signing of the peace, especially because +their agent at Saint Germain had assured them that the Court was fully +persuaded that the Parliament was but a cipher, and that the generals +were the men with whom they must negotiate. I confess that Cardinal +Mazarin acted a very wily part in this juncture, and he is the more to be +commended because he was obliged to defend himself, not only against the +monstrous impertinences of La Riviere, but against the violent passion of +the Prince de Conde. + +We held a council at the Duc de Bouillon's, where I persuaded them that +as our deputies were recalled by an order despatched from Parliament +before the treaty was signed, it was therefore void, and that we ought to +take no notice of it, the rather because it had not been communicated to +Parliament in form; and, finally, that the deputies should be charged to +insist on a general treaty of peace and on the expulsion of Mazarin; and, +if they did not succeed, to return forthwith to their seats in +Parliament. But I added that if the deputies should have time to return +and make their report, we should be under the necessity of protesting, +which would so incense the people against them that we should not be able +to keep them from butchering the First President and the President de +Mesmes, so that we should be reputed the authors of the tragedy, and, +though formidable one day, should be every whit as odious the next. I +concluded with offering to sacrifice my coadjutorship of Paris to the +anger of the Queen and the hatred of the Cardinal, and that very +cheerfully, if they would but come into my measures. + +M. de Bouillon, after having opposed my reasons, concluded thus: "I know +that my brother's declaration and my urging the necessity of his +advancing with the army before we come to a positive resolution may give +ground to a belief that I have great views for our family. I do not deny +but that I hope for some advantages, and am persuaded it is lawful for me +to do so, but I will be content to forfeit my reputation if I ever agree +with the Court till you all say you are satisfied; and if I do not keep +my word I desire the Coadjutor to disgrace me." + +After all I thought it best to submit to the Prince de Conti and the +voice of the majority, who resolved very wisely not to explain themselves +in detail next morning in Parliament, but that the Prince de Conti should +only say, in general, that it being the common report that the peace was +signed at Ruel, he was resolved to send deputies thither to take care of +his and the other generals' interests. + +The Prince agreed at once with our decision. Meantime the people rose at +the report I had spread concerning Mazarin's signing the treaty, which, +though we all considered it a necessary stratagem, I now repented of. +This shows that a civil war is one of those complicated diseases wherein +the remedy you prescribe for obviating one dangerous symptom sometimes +inflames three or four others. + +On the 13th the deputies of Ruel entering the Parliament House, which was +in great tumult, M. d'Elbeuf, contrary to the resolution taken at M. de +Bouillon's, asked the deputies whether they had taken care of the +interest of the generals in the treaty. + +The First President was going to make his report, but was almost stunned +with the clamour of the whole company, crying, "There is no peace! there +is no peace!" that the deputies had scandalously deserted the generals +and all others whom the Parliament had joined by the decree of union, +and, besides, that they had concluded a peace after the revocation of the +powers given them to treat. The Prince de Conti said very calmly that he +wondered they had concluded a treaty without the generals; to which the +First President answered that the generals had always protested that they +had no separate interests from those of the Parliament, and it was their +own fault that they had not sent their deputies. M. de Bouillon said +that, since Cardinal Mazarin was to continue Prime Minister, he desired +that Parliament should obtain a passport for him to retire out of the +kingdom. The First President replied that his interest had been taken +care of, and that he would have satisfaction for Sedan. But M. de +Bouillon told him that he might as well have said nothing, and that he +would never separate from the other generals. The clamour redoubled with +such fury that President de Mesmes trembled like an aspen leaf. M. de +Beaufort, laying his hand upon his sword, said, "Gentlemen, this shall +never be drawn for Mazarin." + +The Presidents de Coigneux and de Bellievre proposed that the deputies +might be sent back to treat about the interests of the generals and to +reform the articles which the Parliament did not like; but they were soon +silenced by a sudden noise in the Great Hall, and the usher came in +trembling and said that the people called for M. de Beaufort. He went +out immediately, and quieted them for the time, but no sooner had he got +inside the House than the disturbance began afresh, and an infinite +number of people, armed with daggers, called out for the original treaty, +that they might have Mazarin's sign-manual burnt by the hangman, adding +that if the deputies had signed the peace of their own accord they ought +to be hanged, and if against their will they ought to be disowned. They +were told that the sign-manual of the Cardinal could not be burnt without +burning at the same time that of the Duc d'Orleans, but that the deputies +were to be sent back again to get the articles amended. The people still +cried out, "No peace! no Mazarin! You must go! We will have our good +King fetched from Saint Germain, and all Mazarins thrown into the river!" + +The people were ready to break open the great door of the House, yet the +First President was so far from being terrified that, when he was advised +to pass through the registry into his own house that he might not be +seen, he replied, "If I was sure to perish I would never be guilty of +such cowardice, which would only serve to make the mob more insolent, who +would be ready to come to my house if they thought I was afraid of them +here." And when I begged him not to expose himself till I had pacified +the people he passed it off with a joke, by which I found he took me for +the author of the disturbance, though very unjustly. However, I did not +resent it, but went into the Great Hall, and, mounting the solicitors' +bench, waved my hands to the people, who thereupon cried, "Silence!" I +said all I could think of to make them easy. They asked if I would +promise that the Peace of Ruel should not be kept. I answered, "Yes, +provided the people will be quiet, for otherwise their best friends will +be obliged to take other methods to prevent such disturbances." I acted +in a quarter of an hour above thirty different parts. I threatened, I +commanded, I entreated them; and, finding I was sure of a calm, at least +for a moment, I returned to the House, and, embracing the First +President, placed him before me; M. de Beaufort did the same with +President de Mesmes, and thus we went out with the Parliament, all in a +body, the officers of the House marching in front. The people made a +great noise, and we heard some crying, "A republic!" but no injury was +offered to us, only M. de Bouillon received a blow in his face from a +ragamuffin, who took him for Cardinal Mazarin. + +On the 16th the deputies were sent again to Ruel by the Parliament to +amend some of the articles, particularly those for adjourning the +Parliament to Saint Germain and prohibiting their future assemblies; with +an order to take care of the interest of the generals and of the +companies, joined together by the decree of union. + +The late disturbances obliged the Parliament to post the city +trained-bands at their gates, who were even more enraged against the +"Mazarin peace," as they called it, than the mob, and who were far less +dreaded, because they consisted of citizens who were not for plunder; yet +this select militia was ten times on the point of insulting the +Parliament, and did actually insult the members of the Council and +Presidents, threatening to throw the President de Thore into the river; +and when the First President and his friends saw that they were afraid of +putting their threats into execution, they took an advantage of us, and +had the boldness even to reproach the generals, as if the troops had not +done their duty; though if the generals had but spoken loud enough to be +heard by the people, they would not have been able to hinder them from +tearing the members to pieces. + +The Duc de Bouillon came to the Hotel de Ville and made a speech there to +Prince de Conti and the other generals, in substance as follows: + +"I could never have believed what I now see of this Parliament. On the +13th they would not hear the Peace of Ruel mentioned, but on the 15th +they approved of it, some few articles excepted; on the 16th they +despatched the same deputies who had concluded a peace against their +orders with full and unlimited powers, and, not content with all this, +they load us with reproaches because we complain that they have treated +for a peace without us, and have abandoned M. de Longueville and M. de +Turenne; and yet it is owing only to us that the people do not massacre +them. We must save their lives at the hazard of our own, and I own that +it is wisdom so to do; but we shall all of us certainly perish with the +Parliament if we let them go on at this rate." Then, addressing himself +to the Prince de Conti, he said, "I am for closing with the Coadjutor's +late advice at my house, and if your Highness does not put it into +execution before two days are at an end, we shall have a peace less +secure and more scandalous than the former." + +The company became unanimously of his opinion, and resolved to meet next +day at M. de Bouillon's to consider how to bring the affair into +Parliament. In the meantime, Don Gabriel de Toledo arrived with the +Archduke's ratification of the treaty signed by the generals, and with a +present from his master of 10,000 pistoles; but I was resolved to let the +Spaniards see that I had not the intention of taking their money, though +at his request Madame de Bouillon did all she could to persuade me. +Accordingly, I declined it with all possible respect; nevertheless, this +denial cost me dear afterwards, because I contracted a habit of refusing +presents at other times when it would have been good policy to have +accepted them, even if I had thrown them into the river. It is sometimes +very dangerous to refuse presents from one's superiors. + +While we were in conference at M. de Bouillon's the sad news was brought +to us that M. de Turenne's forces, all except two or three regiments, had +been bribed with money from Court to abandon him, and, finding himself +likely to be arrested, he had retired to the house of his friend and +kinswoman, the Landgravine of Hesse. M. de Bouillon, was, as it were, +thunderstruck; his lady burst out into tears, saying, "We are all +undone," and I was almost as much cast down as they were, because it +overturned our last scheme. + +M. de Bouillon was now for pushing matters to extremes, but I convinced +him that there was nothing more dangerous. + +Don Gabriel de Toledo, who was ordered to be very frank with me, was very +reserved when he saw how I was mortified about the news of M. de Turenne, +and caballed with the generals in such a manner as made me very uneasy. +Upon this sudden turn of affairs I made these remarks: That every company +has so much in it of the unstable temper of the vulgar that all depends +upon joining issue with opportunity; and that the best proposals prove +often fading flowers, which are fragrant to-day and offensive to-morrow. + +I could not sleep that night for thinking about our circumstances. I saw +that the Parliament was less inclined than ever to engage in a war, by +reason of the desertion of the army of M. de Turenne; I saw the deputies +at Ruel emboldened by the success of their prevarication; I saw the +people of Paris as ready to admit the Archduke as ever they could be to +receive the Duc d'Orleans; I saw that in a week's time this Prince, with +beads in his hand, and Fuensaldagne with his money, would have greater +power than ourselves; that M. de Bouillon was relapsing into his former +proposal of using extremities, and that the other generals would be +precipitated into the same violent measures by the scornful behaviour of +the Court, who now despised all because they were sure of the Parliament. +I saw that all these circumstances paved the way for a popular sedition +to massacre the Parliament and put the Spaniards in possession of the +Louvre, which might overturn the State. + +These gloomy thoughts I resolved to communicate to my father, who had for +the last twenty years retired to the Oratory, and who would never hear of +my State intrigues. My father told me of some advantageous offers made +to me indirectly by the Court, but advised me not to trust to them. + +Next day, M. de Bouillon was for shutting the gates against the deputies +of Ruel, for expelling the Parliament, for making ourselves masters of +the Hotel de Ville, and for bringing the Spanish army without delay into +our suburbs. As for M. de Beaufort, Don Gabriel de Toledo told me that +he offered Madame de Montbazon 20,000 crowns down and 6,000 crowns a year +if she could persuade him into the Archduke's measures. He did not +forget the other generals. M. d'Elbeuf was gained at an easy rate, and +Marechal de La Mothe was buoyed up with the hopes of being accommodated +with the Duchy of Cardonne. I soon saw the Catholicon of Spain (Spanish +gold) was the chief ingredient. Everybody saw that our only remedy was +to make ourselves masters of the Hotel de Ville by means of the people, +but I opposed it with arguments too tedious to mention. M. de Bouillon +was for engaging entirely with Spain, but I convinced Marechal de La +Mothe and M. de Beaufort that such measures would in a fortnight reduce +them to a precarious dependence on the counsels of Spain. + +Being pressed to give my opinion in brief, I delivered it thus: "We +cannot hinder the peace without ruining the Parliament by the help of the +people, and we cannot maintain the war by the means of the same people +without a dependence upon Spain. We cannot have any peace with Saint +Germain but by consenting to continue Mazarin in the Ministry." + +M. de Bouillon, with the head of an ox, and the penetration of an eagle, +interrupted me thus: "I take it, monsieur," said he, "you are for +suffering the peace to come to a conclusion, but not for appearing in +it." + +I replied that I was willing to oppose it, but that it should be only +with my own voice and the voices of those who were ready to run the same +hazard with me. + +"I understand you again," replied M. de Bouillon; "a very fine thought +indeed, suitable to yourself and to M. de Beaufort, but to nobody else." + +"If it suited us only," said I, "before I would propose it I would cut +out my tongue. The part we act would suit you as well as either of us, +because you may accommodate matters when you think it for your interest. +For my part, I am fully persuaded that they who insist upon the exclusion +of Mazarin as a condition of the intended arrangement will continue +masters of the affections of the people long enough to take their +advantage of an opportunity which fortune never fails to furnish in +cloudy and unsettled times. Pray, monsieur, considering your reputation +and capacity, who can pretend to act this part with more dignity, than +yourself? M. de Beaufort and I are already the favourites of the people, +and if you declare for the exclusion of the Cardinal, you will be +tomorrow as popular as either of us, and we shall be looked upon as the +only centre of their hopes. All the blunders of the ministers will turn +to our advantage, the Spaniards will caress us, and the Cardinal, +considering how fond he is of a treaty, will be under the necessity to +court us. I own this scheme may be attended with inconveniences, but, on +the other side of the question, we are sure of certain ruin if we have a +peace and an enraged minister at the helm, who cannot hope for +reestablishment but upon our destruction. Therefore, I cannot but think +the expedient is as proper for you to engage in as for me, but if, for +argument's sake, it were not, I am sure it is for your interest that I +should embrace it, for you will by that means have more time to make your +own terms with the Court before the peace is concluded, and after the +peace Mazarin will in such case be obliged to have more regard for all +those gentlemen whose reunion with me it will be to his interest to +prevent." + +M. de Bouillon was so convinced of the justice of my reasoning that he +told me, when we were by ourselves, that he had, as well as myself, +thought of my expedient as soon as he received the news of the army +deserting M. de Turenne, that he could still improve it, as the Spaniards +would not fail to relish it, and that he had been on the point several +times one day to confer about it with me; but that his wife had conjured +him with prayers and tears to speak no more of the matter, but to come to +terms with the Court, or else to engage himself with the Spaniards. "I +know," said he, "you are not for the second arrangement; pray lend me +your good offices to compass the first." I assured him that all my best +offices and interests were entirely at his service to facilitate his +agreement with the Court, and that he might freely make use of my name +and reputation for that purpose. + +In fine, we agreed on every point. M. de Bouillon undertook to make the +proposition palatable to the Spaniards, provided we would promise never +to let them know that it was concerted among ourselves beforehand, and we +never questioned but that we could persuade M. de Longueville to accept +it, for men of irresolution are apt to catch at all overtures which lead +them two ways, and consequently press them to no choice. + +I had almost forgotten to tell you what M. de Bouillon said to me in +private as we were going from the conference. "I am sure," said he, +"that you will not blame me for not exposing a wife whom I dearly love +and eight children whom she loves more than herself to the hazards which +you run, and which I could run with you were I a single man." + +I was very much affected by the tender sentiments of M. de Bouillon and +the confidence he placed in me, and assured him I was so far from blaming +him that I esteemed him the more, and that his tenderness for his lady, +which he was pleased to call his weakness, was indeed what politics +condemned but ethics highly justified, because it betokened an honest +heart, which is much superior both to interest and politics. M. de +Bouillon communicated the proposal both to the Spanish envoys and to the +generals, who were easily persuaded to relish it. + +Thus he made, as it were, a golden bridge for the Spaniards to withdraw +their troops with decency. I told him as soon as they were gone that he +was an excellent man to persuade people that a "quartan ague was good for +them." + +The Parliamentary deputies, repairing to Saint Germain on the 17th of +March, 1649, first took care to settle the interests of the generals, +upon which every officer of the army thought he had a right to exhibit +his pretensions. M. de Vendome sent his son a formal curse if he did not +procure for him at least the post of Superintendent of the Seas, which +was created first in favour of Cardinal de Richelieu in place of that of +High Admiral, but Louis XIV. abolished it, and restored that of High +Admiral. + +Upon this we held a conference, the result of which was that on the 20th +the Prince de Conti told the Parliament that himself and the other +generals entered their claims solely for the purpose of providing for +their safety in case Mazarin should continue in the Ministry, and that he +protested, both for himself and for all the gentlemen engaged in the same +party, that they would immediately renounce all pretensions whatsoever +upon the exclusion of Cardinal Mazarin. + +We also prevailed on the Prince de Conti, though almost against his will, +to move the Parliament to direct their deputies to join with the Comte de +Maure for the expulsion of Cardinal Mazarin. I had almost lost all my +credit with the people, because I hindered them on the 13th of March from +massacring the Parliament, and because on the 23d and 24th I opposed the +public sale of the Cardinal's library. But I reestablished my reputation +in the Great Hall among the crowd, in the opinion of the firebrands of +Parliament, by haranguing against the Comte de Grancei, who had the +insolence to pillage the house of M. Coulon; by insisting on the 24th +that the Prince d'Harcourt should be allowed to seize all the public +money in the province of Picardy; by insisting on the 25th against a +truce which it would have been ridiculous to refuse during a conference; +and by opposing on the 30th what was transacted there, though at the same +time I knew that peace was made. + +I now return to the conference at Saint Germain. + +The Court declared they would never consent to the removal of the +Cardinal; and that as to the pretensions of the generals, which were +either to justice or favour, those of justice should be confirmed, and +those of favour left to his Majesty's disposal to reward merit. They +declared their willingness to accept the Archduke's proposal for a +general peace. + +An amnesty was granted in the most ample manner, comprehending expressly +the Prince de Conti, MM. de Longueville, de Beaufort, d'Harcourt, de +Rieug, de Lillebonne, de Bouillon, de Turenne, de Brissac, de Duras, de +Matignon, de Beuron, de Noirmoutier, de Sdvigny, de Tremouille, de La +Rochefoucault, de Retz, d'Estissac, de Montresor, de Matta, de Saint +Germain, d'Apchon, de Sauvebeuf, de Saint Ibal, de Lauretat, de Laigues, +de Chavagnac, de Chaumont, de Caumesnil, de Cugnac, de Creci, d'Allici, +and de Barriere; but I was left out, which contributed to preserve my +reputation with the public more than you would expect from such a trifle. + +On the 31st the deputies, being returned, made their report to the +Parliament, who on the 1st of April verified the declaration of peace. + +As I went to the House I found the streets crowded with people crying "No +peace! no Mazarin!" but I dispersed them by saying that it was one of +Mazarin's stratagems to separate the people from the Parliament, who +without doubt had reasons for what they had done; that they should be +cautious of falling into the snare; that they had no cause to fear +Mazarin; and that they might depend on it that I would never agree with +him. When I reached the House I found the guards as excited as the +people, and bent on murdering every one they knew to be of Mazarin's +party; but I pacified them as I had done the others. The First +President, seeing me coming in, said that "I had been consecrating oil +mixed, undoubtedly, with saltpetre." I heard the words, but made as if I +did not, for had I taken them up, and had the people known it in the +Great Hall, it would not have been in my power to have saved the life of +one single member. + +Soon after the peace the Prince de Conti, Madame de Longueville and M. de +Bouillon went to Saint Germain to the Court, which had by some means or +other gained M. d'Elbeuf. But MM. de Brissac, de Retz, de Vitri, de +Fiesque, de Fontrailles, de Montresor, de Noirmoutier, de Matta, de la +Boulaie, de Caumesnil, de Moreul, de Laigues, and d'Annery remained in a +body with us, which was not contemptible, considering the people were on +our side; but the Cardinal despised us to that degree that when MM. de +Beaufort, de Brissac, de La Mothe, and myself desired one of our friends +to assure the Queen of our most humble obedience, she answered that she +should not regard our assurances till we had paid our devoirs to the +Cardinal. + +Madame de Chevreuse having come from Brussels without the Queen's leave, +her Majesty sent her orders to quit Paris in twenty-four hours upon which +I went to her house and found the lovely creature at her toilet bathed in +tears. My heart yearned towards her, but I bid her not obey till I had +the honour of seeing her again. I consulted with M. de Beaufort to get +the order revoked, upon which he said, "I see you are against her going; +she shall stay. She has very fine eyes!" + +I returned to the Palace de Chevreuse, where I was made very welcome, and +found the lovely Mademoiselle de Chevreuse. I got a very intimate +acquaintance with Madame de Rhodes, natural daughter of Cardinal de +Guise, who was her great confidant. I entirely demolished the good +opinion she had of the Duke of Brunswick-Zell, with whom she had almost +struck a bargain. De Laigues hindered me at first, but the forwardness +of the daughter and the good-nature of the mother soon removed all +obstacles. I saw her every day at her own house and very often at Madame +de Rhodes's, who allowed us all the liberty we could wish for, and we did +not fail to make good use of our time. I did love her, or rather I +thought I loved her, for I still had to do with Madame de Pommereux. + +Fronde (sling) being the name given to the faction, I will give you the +etymology of it, which I omitted in the first book. + +When Parliament met upon State affairs, the Duc d'Orleans and the Prince +de Conde came very frequently, and tempered the heat of the contending +parties; but the coolness was not lasting, for every other day their fury +returned upon them. + +Bachoumont once said, in jest, that the Parliament acted like the +schoolboys in the Paris ditches, who fling stones, and run away when they +see the constable, but meet again as soon as he turns his back. This was +thought a very pretty comparison. It came to be a subject for ballads, +and, upon the peace between the King and Parliament, it was revived and +applied to those who were not agreed with the Court; and we studied to +give it all possible currency, because we observed that it excited the +wrath of the people. We therefore resolved that night to wear hatbands +made in the form of a sling, and had a great number of them made ready to +be distributed among a parcel of rough fellows, and we wore them +ourselves last of all, for it would have looked much like affectation and +have spoilt all had we been the first in the mode. + +It is inexpressible what influence this trifle had upon the people; their +bread, hats, gloves, handkerchiefs, fans, ornaments were all 'a la mode +de la Fronde', and we ourselves were more in the fashion by this trifle +than in reality. And the truth is we had need of all our shifts to +support us against the whole royal family. For although I had spoken to +the Prince de Conde at Madame de Longueville's, I could not suppose +myself thoroughly reconciled. He treated me, indeed, civilly, but with +an air of coldness, and I know that he was fully persuaded that I had +complained of his breach of a promise which he made by me to some members +of Parliament; but, as I had complained to nobody upon this head, I began +to suspect that some persona studied to set us at variance. I imagined +it came from the Prince de Conti, who was naturally very malicious, and +hated me, he knew not why. Madame de Longueville loved me no better. I +always suspected Madame de Montbazon, who had not nearly so much +influence over M. de Beaufort as I had, yet was very artful in robbing +him of all his secrets. She did not love me either, because I deprived +her of what might have made her a most considerable person at Court. + +Count Fuensaldagne was not obliged to help me if he could. He was not +pleased with the conduct of M. de Bouillon, who, in truth, had neglected +the decisive point for a general peace, and he was much less satisfied +with his own ministers, whom he used to call his blind moles; but he was +pleased with me for insisting always on the peace between the two Crowns, +without any view to a separate one. He therefore sent me Don Antonio +Pimentel, to offer me anything that was in the power of the King his +master, and to tell me that, as I could not but want assistance, +considering how I stood with the Ministry, 100,000 crowns was at my +service, which was accordingly brought me in bills of exchange. He added +that he did not desire any engagement from me for it, nor did the King +his master propose any other advantage than the pleasure of protecting +me. But I thought fit to refuse the money, for the present, telling Don +Antonio that I should think myself unworthy, of the protection of his +Catholic Majesty if I took any, gratuity, while I was in no capacity, of +serving him; that I was born a Frenchman, and, by virtue of my post, +more particularly, attached than another to the metropolis of the +kingdom; that it was my misfortune to be embroiled with the Prime +Minister of my King, but that my resentment should never carry me to +solicit assistance among his enemies till I was forced to do so for +self-preservation; that Divine Providence had cast my lot in Paris, where +God, who knew the purity of my intentions, would enable me in all +probability to maintain myself by my own interest. But in case I wanted +protection I was fully persuaded I could nowhere find any so powerful and +glorious as that of his Catholic Majesty, to whom I would always think it +an honour to have recourse. Fuensaldagne was satisfied with my answer, +and sent back Don Antonio Pimentel with a letter from the Archduke, +assuring me that upon a line from my hand he would march with all the +forces of the King his master to my assistance. + + + + +BOOK III. + + +MADAME:--Cardinal Mazarin thought of nothing else now but how to rid +himself of the obligations he lay under to the Prince de Conde, who had +actually saved him from the gallows. And his principal view was an +alliance with the House of Vendome, who had on some occasions opposed the +interest of the family of Conde. + +In Paris the people libelled not only the Cardinal, but the Queen. Indeed +it was not our interest to discourage libels and ballads against the +Cardinal, but it concerned us to suppress such as were levelled against +the Queen and Government. It is not to be imagined what uneasiness the +wrath of the people gave us upon that head. Two criminals, one of whom +was a printer, being condemned to be hanged for publishing some things +fit to be burnt and for libelling the Queen, cried out, when they were +upon the scaffold, that they were to be put to death for publishing +verses against Mazarin, upon which the people rescued them from justice. + +On the other hand, some gay young gentlemen of the Court, who were in +Mazarin's interest, had a mind to make his name familiar to the +Parisians, and for that end made a famous display in the public walks of +the Tuileries, where they had grand suppers, with music, and drank the +Cardinal's health publicly. We took little notice of this, till they +boasted at Saint Germain that the Frondeurs were glad to give them the +wall. And then we thought it high time to correct them, lest the common +people should think they did it by authority. For this end M. de +Beaufort and a hundred other gentlemen went one night to the house where +they supped, overturned the table, and broke the musicians' violins over +their heads. + +Being informed that the Prince de Conde intended to oblige the King to +return to Paris, I was resolved to have all the merit of an action which +would be so acceptable to the citizens. I therefore resolved to go to +the Court at Compiegne, which my friends very much opposed, for fear of +the danger to which I might be exposed, but I told them that what is +absolutely necessary is not dangerous. + +I went accordingly, and as I was going up-stairs to the Queen's +apartments, a man, whom I never saw before or since, put a note into my +hand with these words: "If you enter the King's domicile, you are a dead +man." But I was in already, and it was too late to go back. Being past +the guard-chamber, I thought myself secure. I told the Queen that I was +come to assure her Majesty of my most humble obedience, and of the +disposition of the Church of Paris to perform all the services it owed to +their Majesties. The Queen seemed highly pleased, and was very kind to +me; but when we mentioned the Cardinal, though she urged me to it, I +excused myself from going to see him, assuring her Majesty that such a +visit would put it out of my power to do her service. It was impossible +for her to contain herself any longer; she blushed, and it was with much +restraint that she forbore using harsh language, as she herself confessed +afterwards. + +Servien said one day that there was a design to assassinate me at his +table by the Abbe Fouquet; and M. de Vendome, who had just come from his +table, pressed me to be gone, saying that there were wicked designs +hatching against me. + +I returned to Paris, having accomplished everything I wanted, for I had +removed the suspicion of the Court that the Frondeurs were against the +King's return. I threw upon the Cardinal all the odium attending his +Majesty's delay. I braved Mazarin, as it were, upon his throne, and +secured to myself the chief honour of the King's return. + +The Court was received at Paris as kings always were and ever will be, +namely, with acclamations, which only please such as like to be +flattered. A group of old women were posted at the entrance of the +suburbs to cry out, "God save his Eminence!" who sat in the King's coach +and thought himself Lord of Paris; but at the end of three or four days +he found himself much mistaken. Ballads and libels still flew about. The +Frondeurs appeared bolder than ever. M. de Beaufort and I rode sometimes +alone, with one lackey only behind our coach, and at other times we went +with a retinue of fifty men in livery and a hundred gentlemen. We +diversified the scene as we thought it would be most acceptable to the +spectators. The Court party, who blamed us from morning to night, +nevertheless imitated us in their way. Everybody took an advantage of +the Ministry from our continual pelting of his Eminence. The Prince, who +always made too much or too little of the Cardinal, continued to treat +him with contempt; and, being disgusted at being refused the post of +Superintendent of the Seas, the Cardinal endeavoured to soothe him with +the vain hopes of other advantages. + +The Prince, being one day at Court, and seeing the Cardinal give himself +extraordinary airs, said, as he was going out of the Queen's cabinet, +"Adieu, Mars." This was told all over the city in a quarter of an hour. +I and Noirmoutier went by appointment to his house at four o'clock in the +morning, when he seemed to be greatly troubled. He said that he could +not determine to begin a civil war, which, though the only means to +separate the Queen from the Cardinal, to whom she was so strongly +attached, yet it was both against his conscience and honour. He added +that he should never forget his obligations to us, and that if he should +come to any terms with the Court, he would, if we thought proper, settle +our affairs also, and that if we had not a mind to be reconciled to the +Court, he would, in case it did attack us, publicly undertake our +protection. We answered that we had no other design in our proposals +than the honour of being his humble servants, and that we should be very +sorry if he had retarded his reconciliation with the Queen upon our +account, praying that we might be permitted to continue in the same +disposition towards the Cardinal as we were then, which we declared +should not hinder us from paying all the respect and duty which we +professed for his Highness. + +I must not forget to acquaint you that Madame de Guemenee, who ran away +from Paris in a fright the moment it was besieged, no sooner heard that I +had paid a visit to Mademoiselle de Chevreuse than she returned to town +in a rage. I was in such a passion with her for having cowardly deserted +me that I took her by the throat, and she was so enraged at my +familiarity with Mademoiselle de Chevreuse that she threw a candlestick +at my head, but in a quarter of an hour we were very good friends. + +The Prince de Conde was no sooner reconciled with the Court than he was +publicly reproached in the city for breaking his word with the Frondeurs; +but I convinced him that he could not think such treatment strange in a +city so justly exasperated against Mazarin, and that, nevertheless, he +might depend on my best services, for which he assured me of his constant +friendship. + +Moissans, now Marechal d'Albret, who was at the head of the King's +gendarmes, accustomed himself and others to threaten the chief minister, +who augmented the public odium against himself by reestablishing Emeri, a +man detested by all the kingdom. We were not a little alarmed at his +reestablishment, because this man, who knew Paris better than the +Cardinal, distributed money among the people to a very good purpose. This +is a singular science, which is either very beneficial or hurtful in its +consequences, according to the wisdom or folly of the distributor. + +These donations, laid out with discretion and secrecy, obliged us to +yield ourselves more and more unto the bulk of the people, and, finding a +fit opportunity for this performance, we took care not to let it slip, +which, if they had been ruled by me, we should not have done so soon, for +we were not yet forced to make use of such expedients. It is not safe in +a faction where you are only upon the defensive to do what you are not +pressed to do, but the uneasiness of the subalterns on such occasions is +troublesome, because they believe that as soon as you seem to be inactive +all is lost. I preached every day that the way was yet rough, and +therefore must be made plain, and that patience in the present case was +productive of greater effects than activity; but nobody comprehended the +truth of what I said. + +An unlucky expression, dropped on this occasion by the Princesse de +Guemenee, had an incredible influence upon the people. She called to +mind a ballad formerly made upon the regiment of Brulon, which was said +to consist of only two dragoons and four drummers, and, inasmuch as she +hated the Fronde, she told me very pleasantly that our party, being +reduced to fourteen, might be justly compared to that regiment of Brulon. +Noirmoutier and Laigues were offended at this expression to that degree +that they continually murmured because I neither settled affairs nor +pushed them to the last extremity. Upon which I observed that heads of +factions are no longer their masters when they are unable either to +prevent or allay the murmurs of the people. + +The revenues of the Hotel de Ville, which are, as it were, the patrimony +of the bourgeois, and which, if well managed, might be of special service +to the King in securing to his interest an infinite number of those +people who are always the most formidable in revolutions--this sacred +fund, I say, suffered much by the licentiousness of the times, the +ignorance of Mazarin, and the prevarication of the officers of the Hotel +de Ville, who were his dependents, so that the poor annuitants met in +great numbers at the Hotel de Ville; but as such assemblies without the +Prince's authority are reckoned illegal, the Parliament passed a decree +to suppress them. They were privately countenanced by M. de Beaufort and +me, to whom they sent a solemn deputation, and they made choice of twelve +syndics to be a check upon the 'prevot des marchands'. + +On the 11th of December a pistol, as had been concerted beforehand, was +fired into the coach of Joly, one of the syndics, which President +Charton, another of the syndics, thinking was aimed at himself, the +Marquis de la Boulaie ran as if possessed with a devil, while the +Parliament was sitting, into the middle of the Great Hall, with fifteen +or twenty worthless fellows crying out "To Arms!" He did the like in the +streets, but in vain, and came to Broussel and me; but the former +reprimanded him after his way, and I threatened to throw him out at the +window, for I had reason to believe that he acted in concert with the +Cardinal, though he pretended to be a Frondeur. + +This artifice of Servien united the Prince to the Cardinal, because he +found himself obliged to defend himself against the Frondeurs, who, as he +believed, sought to assassinate him. All those that were his own +creatures thought they were not zealous enough for his service if they +did not exaggerate the imminent danger he had escaped, and the Court +parasites confounded the morning adventure with that at night; and upon +this coarse canvas they daubed all that the basest flattery, blackest +imposture, and the most ridiculous credulity was capable of imagining; +and we were informed the next morning that it was the common rumour over +all the city that we had formed a design of seizing the King's person and +carrying him to the Hotel de Ville, and to assassinate the Prince. + +M. de Beaufort and I agreed to go out and show ourselves to the people, +whom we found in such a consternation that I believed the Court might +then have attacked us with success. Madame de Montbazon advised us to +take post-horses and ride off, saying that there was nothing more easy +than to destroy us, because we had put ourselves into the hands of our +sworn enemies. I said that we had better hazard our lives than our +honour. To which she replied, "It is not that, but your nymphs, I +believe, which keep you here" (meaning Mesdames de Chevreuse and +Guemenee). "I expect," she said, "to be befriended for my own sake, and +don't I deserve it? I cannot conceive how you can be amused by a wicked +old hag and a girl, if possible, still more foolish. We are continually +disputing about that silly wretch" (pointing to M. de Beaufort, who was +playing chess); "let us take him with us and go to Peronne." + +You are not to wonder that she talked thus contemptibly of M. de +Beaufort, whom she always taxed with impotency, for it is certain that +his love was purely Platonic, as he never asked any favour of her, and +seemed very uneasy with her for eating flesh on Fridays. She was so +sweet upon me, and withal such a charming beauty, that, being naturally +indisposed to let such opportunities slip, I was melted into tenderness +for her, notwithstanding my suspicions of her, considering the then +situation of affairs, and would have had her go with me into the cabinet, +but she was determined first to go to Peronne, which put an end to our +amours. + +Beaufort waited on the Prince and was well received, but I could not gain +admittance. + +On the 14th the Prince de Conde went to Parliament and demanded that a +committee might be appointed to inquire into the attempt made on his +life. + +The Frondeurs were not asleep in the meantime, yet most of our friends +were dispirited, and all very weak. + +The cures of Paris were my most hearty friends; they laboured with +incredible zeal among the people. And the cure of Saint Gervais sent me +this message: "Do but rally again and get off the assassination, and in a +week you will be stronger than your enemies." + +I was informed that the Queen had written to my uncle, the Archbishop of +Paris, to be sure to go to the Parliament on the 23d, the day that +Beaufort, Broussel, and I were to be impeached, because I had no right to +sit in the House if he were present. I begged of him not to go, but my +uncle being a man of little sense, and that much out of order, and being, +moreover, fearful and ridiculously jealous of me, had promised the Queen +to go; and all that we could get out of him was that he would defend me +in Parliament better than I could defend myself. It is to be observed +that though he chattered to us like a magpie in private, yet in public he +was as mute as a fish. A surgeon who was in the Archbishop's service, +going to visit him, commended him for his courage in resisting the +importunities of his nephew, who, said he, had a mind to bury him alive, +and encouraged him to rise with all haste and go to the Parliament House; +but he was no sooner out of his bed than the surgeon asked him in a +fright how he felt. "Very well," said my Lord. "But that is +impossible," said the surgeon; "you look like death," and feeling his +pulse, he told him he was in a high fever; upon which my Lord Archbishop +went to bed again, and all the kings and queens in Christendom could not +get him out for a fortnight. + +We went to the Parliament, and found there the Princes with nearly a +thousand gentlemen and, I may say, the whole Court. I had few salutes in +the Hall, because it was generally thought I was an undone man. When I +had entered the Great Chamber I heard a hum like that at the end of a +pleasing period in a sermon. When I had taken my place I said that, +hearing we were taxed with a seditious conspiracy, we were come to offer +our heads to the Parliament if guilty, and if innocent, to demand justice +upon our accusers; and that though I knew not what right the Court had to +call me to account, yet I would renounce all privileges to make my +innocence apparent to a body for whom I always had the greatest +attachment and veneration. + +Then the informations were read against what they called "the public +conspiracy from which it had pleased Almighty God to deliver the State +and the royal family," after which I made a speech, in substance as +follows: + +"I do not believe, gentlemen, that in any of the past ages persons of our +quality had ever received any personal summons grounded merely upon +hearsay. Neither can I think that posterity will ever believe that this +hearsay evidence was admitted from the mouths of the most infamous +miscreants that ever got out of a gaol. Canto was condemned to the +gallows at Pau, Pichon to the wheel at Mans, Sociande is a rogue upon +record. Pray, gentlemen, judge of their evidence by their character and +profession. But this is not all. They have the distinguishing character +of being informers by authority. I am sorely grieved that the defence of +our honour, which is enjoined us by the laws of God and man, should +oblige me to expose to light, under the most innocent of Kings, such +abominations as were detested in the most corrupt ages of antiquity and +under the worst of tyrants. But I must tell you that Canto, Sociande, +and Gorgibus are authorised to inform against us by a commission signed +by that august name which should never be employed but for the +preservation of the most sacred laws, and which Cardinal Mazarin, who +knows no law but that of revenge, which he meditates against the +defenders of the public liberty, has forced M. Tellier, Secretary of +State, to countersign. + +"We demand justice, gentlemen, but we do not demand it of you till we +have first most humbly implored this House to execute the strictest +justice that the laws have provided against rebels, if it appears that we +have been concerned directly or indirectly in raising this last +disturbance. Is it possible, gentlemen, that a grandchild of Henri the +Great, that a senator of M. Broussel's age and probity, and that the +Coadjutor of Paris should be so much as suspected of being concerned in a +sedition raised by a hot-brained fool, at the head of fifteen of the +vilest of the mob? I am fully persuaded it would be scandalous for me to +insist longer on this subject. This is all I know, gentlemen, of the +modern conspiracy." + +The applause that came from the Court of Inquiry was deafening; many +voices were heard exclaiming against spies and informers. Honest Doujat, +who was one of the persons appointed by the Attorney-General Talon, his +kinsman, to make the report, and who had acquainted me with the facts, +acknowledged it publicly by pretending to make the thing appear less +odious. He got up, therefore, as if he were in a passion, and spoke very +artfully to this purpose: + +"These witnesses, monsieur, are not to accuse you, as you are pleased to +say, but only to discover what passed in the meeting of the annuitants at +the Hotel de Ville. If the King did not promise impunity to such as will +give him information necessary for his service, and which sometimes +cannot be come at without involving evidence in a crime, how should the +King be informed at all? There is a great deal of difference between +patents of this nature and commissions granted on purpose to accuse you." + +You might have seen fire in 'the face of every member. The First +President called out "Order!" and said, "MM. de Beaufort, le Coadjuteur, +and Broussel, you are accused, and you must withdraw." + +As Beaufort and I were leaving our seats, Broussel stopped us, saying, +"Neither you, gentlemen, nor I are bound to depart till we are ordered to +do so by the Court. The First President, whom all the world knows to be +our adversary, should go out if we must." + +I added, "And M. le Prince," who thereupon said, with a scornful air: + +"What, I? Must I retire?" + +"Yes, yes, monsieur," said I, "justice is no respecter of persons." + +The President de Mesmes said, "No, monseigneur, you must not go out +unless the Court orders you. If the Coadjutor insists that your Highness +retire, he must demand it by a petition. As for himself, he is accused, +and therefore must go out; but, seeing he raises difficulties and +objections to the contrary, we must put it to the vote." And it was +passed that we should withdraw. + +Meanwhile, most of the members passed encomiums upon us, satires upon the +Ministry, and anathemas upon the witnesses for the Crown. Nor were the +cures and the parishioners wanting in their duty on this occasion. The +people came in shoals from all parts of Paris to the Parliament House. +Nevertheless, no disrespect was shown either to the King's brother or to +M. le Prince; only some in their presence cried out, "God bless M. de +Beaufort! God bless the Coadjutor!" + +M. de Beaufort told the First President next day that, the State and +royal family being in danger, every moment was precious, and that the +offenders ought to receive condign punishment, and that therefore the +Chambers ought to be assembled without loss of time. Broussel attacked +the First President with a great deal of warmth. Eight or ten +councillors entered immediately into the Great Chamber to testify their +astonishment at the indolence and indifference of the House after such a +furious conspiracy, and that so little zeal was shown to prosecute the +criminals. MM. de Bignon and Talon, counsel for the Crown, alarmed the +people by declaring that as for themselves they had no hand in the +conclusions, which were ridiculous. The First President returned very +calm answers, knowing well that we should have been glad to have put him +into a passion in order to catch at some expression that might bear an +exception in law. + +On Christmas Day I preached such a sermon on Christian charity, without +mentioning the present affairs, that the women even wept for the unjust +persecution of an archbishop who had so great a tenderness for his very +enemies. + +On the 29th M. de Beaufort and I went to the Parliament House, +accompanied by a body of three hundred gentlemen, to make it appear that +we were more than tribunes of the people, and to screen ourselves from +the insults of the Court party. We posted ourselves in the Fourth +Chamber of the Inquests, among the courtiers, with whom we conversed very +frankly, yet upon the least noise, when the debates ran high in the Great +Chamber, we were ready to cut one another's throats eight or ten times +every morning. We were all distrustful of one another, and I may venture +to say there were not twenty persons in the House but were armed with +daggers. As for myself, I had resolved to take none of those weapons +inconsistent with my character, till one day, when it was expected the +House would be more excited than usual, and then M. de Beaufort, seeing +one end of the weapon peeping out of my pocket, exposed it to M. le +Prince's captain of the guards and others, saying, "See, gentlemen, the +Coadjutor's prayer-book." I understood the jest, but really I could not +well digest it. We petitioned the Parliament that the First President, +being our sworn enemy, might be expelled the House, but it was put to the +vote and carried by a majority of thirty-six that he should retain his +station of judge. + +Paris narrowly escaped a commotion at the time of the imprisonment of +Belot, one of the syndics of the Hotel de Ville annuitants, who, being +arrested without a decree, President de la Grange made it appear that +there was nothing more contrary to the declaration for which they had +formerly so exerted themselves. The First President maintaining the +legality of his imprisonment, Daurat, a councillor of the Third Chamber, +told him that he was amazed that a gentleman who was so lately near being +expelled could be so resolute in violating the laws so flagrantly. +Whereupon the First President rose in a passion, saying that there was +neither order nor discipline in the House, and that he would resign his +place to another for whom they had more respect. This motion put the +Great Chamber all in a ferment, which was felt in the Fourth, where the +gentlemen of both parties hastened to support their respective sides, and +if the most insignificant lackey had then but drawn a sword, Paris would +have been all in an uproar. + +We solicited very earnestly for our trial, which they delayed as much as +it was in their power, because they could not choose but acquit us and +condemn the Crown witnesses. Various were the pretences for putting it +off, and though the informations were not of sufficient weight to hang a +dog, yet they were read over and over at every turn to prolong the time. + +The public began to be persuaded of our innocence, as also the Prince de +Conde, and M. de Bouillon told me that he very much suspected it to be a +trick of the Cardinal's. + +On the 1st of January, 1650, Madame de Chevreuse, having a mind to visit +the Queen, with whom she had carried on in all her disgrace an +unaccountable correspondence, went to the King's Palace. The Cardinal, +taking her aside in the Queen's little cabinet, said to her: + +"You love the Queen. Is it not possible for you to make your friends +love her?" + +"How can that be?" said she; "the Queen is no more a Queen, but a humble +servant to M. le Prince." + +"Good God!" replied the Cardinal; "we might do great things if we could +get some men into our interest. But M. de Beaufort is at the service of +Madame de Montbazon, and she is devoted to Vigneul and the Coadjutor;" +at the mention of which he smiled. "I take you, monsieur," said Madame +de Chevreuse; "I will answer for him and for her." + +Thus the conversation began, and the Cardinal making a sign to the Queen, +Madame de Chevreuse had a long conference that night with her Majesty, +who gave her this billet for me, written and signed with her own hand: + +Notwithstanding what has passed and what is now doing, I cannot but +persuade myself that M. le Coadjuteur is in my interest. I desire to see +him, and that nobody may know it but Madame and Mademoiselle de +Chevreuse. This name shall be your security. ANNE. + +Being convinced that the Queen was downright angry with the Prince de +Conde on account of a rumour spread abroad that he had some intriguing +gallantries with her Majesty, I weighed all circumstances and returned +the answer to the Queen: + +Never was there one moment of my life wherein I was not devoted to your +Majesty. I am so far from consulting my own safety that I would gladly +die for your service . . . I will go to any place your Majesty shall +order me. + +My answer, with the Queen's letter enclosed, was carried back by Madame +de Chevreuse and well received. I went immediately to Court, and was +taken up the back staircase by the Queen's train-bearer to the petit +oratoire, where her Majesty was shut up all alone. She showed me as much +kindness as she could, considering her hatred against M. le Prince and +her friendship for the Cardinal, though the latter seemed the more to +prevail, because in speaking of the civil wars and of the Cardinal's +friendship for me she called him "the poor Cardinal" twenty times over. +Half an hour after, the Cardinal came in, who begged the Queen to +dispense with the respect he owed her Majesty while he embraced me in her +presence. He was pleased to say he was very sorry that he could not give +me that very moment his own cardinal's cap. He talked so much of +favours, gratifications, and rewards that I was obliged to explain +myself, knowing that nothing is more destructive of new reconciliations +than a seeming unwillingness to be obliged to those to whom you are +reconciled. I answered that the greatest recompense I could expect, +though I had saved the Crown, was to have the honour of serving her +Majesty, and I humbly prayed the Queen to give me no other recompense, +that at least I might have the satisfaction to make her Majesty sensible +that this was the only reward I valued. + +The Cardinal desired the Queen to command me to accept of the nomination +to the cardinalate, "which," said he, "La Riviere has snatched with +insolence and acknowledged with treachery." I excused myself by saying +that I had taken a resolution never to accept of the cardinalship by any +means which seemed to have relation to the civil wars, to the end that I +might convince the Queen that it was the most rigid necessity which had +separated me from her service. I rejected upon the same account all the +other advantageous propositions he made me, and, he still insisting that +the Queen could do no less than confer upon me something that was very +considerable for the signal service I was likely to do her Majesty, I +answered: + +"There is one point wherein the Queen can do me more good than if she +gave me a triple crown. Her Majesty told me just now that she will cause +M. le Prince to be apprehended. A person of his high rank and merit +neither can nor ought to be always shut up in prison, for when he comes +abroad he will be full of resentment against me, though I hope my dignity +will be my protection. There are a great many gentlemen engaged with me +who, in such a juncture, would be ready to serve the Queen. And if it +seemed good to your Majesty to entrust one of them with some important +employment, I should be more pleased than with ten cardinals' hats." + +The Cardinal told the Queen that nothing was more just, and the affair +should be considered between him and me. + +We had several conferences, at which we agreed on gratifications for some +of our friends and to arrest the Prince de Conde, the Prince de Conti, +and the Duc de Longueville. + +The Cardinal took occasion to speak of the treachery of La Riviere. "This +man," said he, "takes me to be the most stupid creature living, and +thinks he shall be to-morrow a cardinal. I diverted myself to-day with +letting him try on some scarlet cloth I lately received from Italy, and I +put it near his face to know whether a scarlet colour or carnation became +him best." + +I heard from Rome that his Eminence was not behindhand with La Riviere +upon the score of treachery. For on the very day he got him nominated by +the King, he wrote a letter to Cardinal Sachelli more fit to recommend +him to a yellow cap than to a red one. This letter, nevertheless, was +full of tenderness for La Riviere, which Mazarin knew was the only way to +ruin him with Pope Innocent, who hated Mazarin and all his adherents. + +Madame de Chevreuse undertook to see how the Duc d'Orleans would relish +the design of imprisoning the Princes. She told him that, though the +Queen was not satisfied with M. le Prince, yet she could not form a +resolution of apprehending him without the concurrence of his Royal +Highness. She magnified the advantages of bringing over to the King's +service the powerful faction of the Fronde, and the daily dangers Paris +was exposed to, both by fire and sword. This last reason touched him as +much or more than all, for he trembled every time he came to the +Parliament; M. le Prince very often could not prevail upon him to go at +all, and a fit of colic was generally assigned as the reason of his +absence. At length he consented, and on the 18th of January the three +Princes were put under arrest by three officers of the Queen's Guards. + +The people having a notion that M. de Beaufort was apprehended, ran to +their arms, which I caused to be laid down immediately, by marching +through the streets with flambeaux before me. M. de Beaufort did the +like, and the night concluded with bonfires. + +The Queen sent a letter from the King to the Parliament with the reasons, +which were neither strong nor well set out, why the Prince de Conde was +confined. However, we obtained a decree for our absolution. + +The Princesses were ordered to retire to Chantilly. Madame de +Longueville went towards Normandy, but found no sanctuary there, for the +Parliament of Rouen sent her a message to desire her to depart from the +city. The Duc de Richelieu would not receive her into Havre, and from +there she retired to Dieppe. + +M. de Bouillon, who after the peace was strongly attached to the Prince +de Conde, went in great haste to Turenne; M. de Turenne got into Stenai; +M. de La Rochefoucault, then Prince de Marsillac, returned home to +Poitou; and Marechal de Breze, father-in-law to the Prince de Conde, went +to Saumur. + +There was a declaration published and registered in Parliament against +them, whereby they were ordered to wait on the King within fifteen days, +upon pain of being proceeded against as disturbers of the public peace +and guilty of high treason. + +The Court carried all before them. Madame de Longueville, upon the King +going into Normandy, escaped by sea into Holland, whence she went +afterwards to Arras, to try La Tour, one of her husband's pensioners, who +offered her his person, but refused her the place. She repaired at last +to Stenai, whither M. de Turenne went to meet her, with all the friends +and servants of the confined Princes that he could muster. The King went +from Normandy to Burgundy, and returned to Paris crowned with laurels of +victory. + +The Princess-dowager, who had been ordered to retire to Bourges, came +with a petition to Parliament, praying for their protection to stay in +Paris, and that she might have justice done her for the illegal +confinement of the Princes her children. She fell at the feet of the Duc +d'Orleans, begged the protection of the Duc de Beaufort, and said to me +that she had the honour to be my kinswoman. M. de Beaufort was very much +perplexed what to do, and I was nearly ready to die for shame; but we +could do nothing for her, and she was obliged to go to Valery. + +Several private annuitants, who had made a noise in the assemblies at the +Hotel de Ville, were afraid of being called to account, and therefore, +after M. le Prince was arrested, they desired me to procure a general +amnesty. I spoke about it to the Cardinal, who seemed very pliable, and, +showing me his hatband, which was 'a la mode de la Fronde', said he hoped +himself to be comprised in that amnesty; but he shuffled it off so long +that it was not published and registered in Parliament till the 12th of +May, and it would not have been obtained then had not I threatened +vigorously to prosecute the Crown witnesses, of which they were mightily +apprehensive, being so conscious of the heinousness of their crime that +two of them had already made their escape. + +The present calm hardly deserved that name, for the storm of war began to +rise again in several places at once. + +Madame de Longueville and M. de Turenne made a treaty with the Spaniards, +and the latter joined their army, which entered Picardy and besieged +Guise, after having taken Catelet; but for want of provisions the +Archduke was obliged to raise the siege. M. de Turenne levied troops +with Spanish money, and was joined by the greater part of the officers +commanding the soldiers that went under the name of the Prince's troops. + +The wretched conduct of M. d'Epernon had so confounded the affairs of +Guienne that nothing but his removal could retrieve them. + +One of the greatest mischiefs which the despotic authority of ministers +has occasioned in the world in these later times is a practice, +occasioned by their own private mistaken interests, of always supporting +superiors against their inferiors. It is a maxim borrowed from +Machiavelli, whom few understand, and whom too many cry up for an able +man because he was always wicked. He was very far from being a complete +statesman, and was frequently out in his politics, but I think never more +grossly mistaken than in this maxim, which I observed as a great weakness +in Mazarin, who was therefore the less qualified to settle the affairs of +Guienne, which were in so much confusion that I believe if the good sense +of Jeannin and Villeroi had been infused into the brains of Cardinal de +Richelieu, it would not have been sufficient to set them right. + +Senneterre, perceiving that Cardinal Mazarin and I were not cordial +friends, undertook to reconcile us, and for that end took me to the +Cardinal, who embraced me very tenderly, said he laid his heart upon the +table, that was one of his usual phrases,--and protested he would talk as +freely to me as if I were his own son. I did not believe a word of what +he said, but I assured his Eminence that I would speak to him as if he +were my father, and I was as good as my word. I told him I had no +personal interest in view but to disengage myself from the public +disturbances without any private advantage, and that for the same reason +I thought myself obliged to come off with reputation and honour. I +desired him to consider that my age and want of skill in public affairs +could not give him any jealousy that I aimed to be the First Minister. I +conjured him to consider also that the influence I had over the people of +Paris, supported by mere necessity, did rather reflect disgrace than +honour upon my dignity, and that he ought to believe that this one reason +was enough to make me impatient to be rid of all these public broils, +besides a thousand other inconveniences arising every moment, which +disgusted me with faction. And as for the dignity of cardinal, which +might peradventure give him some umbrage, I could tell him very sincerely +what had been and what was still my notion of this dignity, which I once +foolishly imagined would be more honourable for me to despise than to +enjoy. I mentioned this circumstance to let him see that in my tender +years I was no admirer of the purple, and not very fond of it now, +because I was persuaded that an Archbishop of Paris could hardly miss +obtaining that dignity some time or other, according to form, by actions +purely ecclesiastical; and that he should be loth to use any other means +to procure it. + +I said that I should be extremely sorry if my purple were stained with +the least drop of blood spilt in the civil wars; that I was resolved to +clear my hands of everything that savoured of intrigue before I would +make or suffer any step which had any tendency that way; that he knew +that for the same reason I would neither accept money nor abbeys, and +that, consequently, I was engaged by the public declarations I had made +upon all those heads to serve the Queen without any interest; that the +only end I had in view, and in which I never wavered, was to come off +with honour, so that I might resume the spiritual functions belonging to +my profession with safety; that I desired nothing from him but the +accomplishment of an affair which would be more for the King's service +than for my particular interest; that he knew that the day after the +arrest of the Prince he sent me with his promise to the annuitants of the +Hotel de Ville, and that for want of performance those men were persuaded +that I was in concert with the Court to deceive them. Lastly, I told him +that the access I had to the Duc d'Orleans might perhaps give him +umbrage, but I desired him to consider that I never sought that honour, +and that I was very sensible of the inconveniences attending it. I +enlarged upon this head, which is the most difficult point to be +understood by Prime Ministers, who are so fond of being freely admitted +into a Prince's presence that, notwithstanding all the experience in the +world, they cannot help thinking that therein consists the essence of +happiness. + +When truth has come to a certain point, it darts such powerful rays of +light as are irresistible, but I never knew a man who had so little +regard for truth as Mazarin. He seemed, however, more regardful of it +than usual, and I laid hold of the occasion to tell him of the dangerous +consequences of the disturbances of Guienne, and that if he continued to +support M. d'Epernon, the Prince's faction would not let this opportunity +slip; that if the Parliament of Bordeaux should engage in their party, it +would not be long before that of Paris would do the same; that, after the +late conflagration in this metropolis, he could not suppose but that +there was still some fire hidden under the ashes; and that the factious +party had reason to fear the heavy punishment to which the whole body of +them was liable, as we ourselves were two or three months ago. The +Cardinal began to yield, especially when he was told that M. de Bouillon +began to make a disturbance in the Limousin, where M. de La Rochefoucault +had joined him with some troops. + +To confirm our reconciliation, a marriage was proposed between my niece +and his nephew, to which he, gave his consent; but I was much averse to +it, being not yet resolved to bury my family in that of Mazarin, nor did +I set so great a value on grandeur as to purchase it with the public +odium. However, it produced no animosity on either side, and his friends +knew that I should be very glad to be employed in making a general peace; +they acted their parts so well that the Cardinal, whose love-fit for me +lasted about a fortnight, promised me, as it were of his own accord, that +I should be gratified. + +News came about this time from Guienne that the Ducs de Bouillon and de +La Rochefoucault had taken Madame la Princesse into Bordeaux, together +with M. le Duc, her son. The Parliament was not displeased with the +people for receiving into their city M. le Duc, yet they observed more +decorum than could be expected from the inhabitants of Gascogne, so +irritated as they were against M. d'Epernon. They ordered that Madame la +Princesse, M. le Duc, MM. de Bouillon and de La Rochefoucault should have +liberty to stay in Bordeaux, provided they would promise to undertake +nothing against the King's service, and that the petition of Madame la +Princesse should be sent to the King with a most humble remonstrance from +the Parliament against the confinement of the Princes. + +At the same time, one of the Presidents sent word to Senneterre that the +Parliament was not so far enraged but that they would still remember +their loyalty to the King, provided he did but remove M. d'Epernon. But +in case of any further delay he would not answer for the Parliament, and +much less for the people, who, being now managed and supported by the +Prince's party, would in a little time make themselves masters of the +Parliament. Senneterre did what he could to induce the Cardinal to make +good use of this advice, and M. de Chateauneuf, who was now Chancellor, +talked wonderfully well upon the point, but seeing the Cardinal gave no +return to his reasons but by exclaiming against the Parliament of +Bordeaux for sheltering men condemned by the King's declaration, he said +to him very plainly, "Set out to-morrow, monsieur, if you do not arrange +matters to-day; you should have been by this time upon the Garonne." + +The event proved that Chateauneuf was in the right, for though the +Parliament was very excited, they stood out a long time against the +madness of the people, spurred on by M. de Bouillon, and issued a decree +ordering an envoy of Spain, who was sent thither to commence a treaty +with the Duc de Bouillon, to depart the city, and forbade any of their +body to visit such as had correspondence with Spain, the Princess herself +not excepted. Moreover, the mob having undertaken to force the +Parliament to unite with the Princes, the Parliament armed the +magistracy, who fired upon the people and made them retire. + +A little time before the King departed for Guienne, which was in the +beginning of July, word came that the Parliament of Bordeaux had +consented to a union with the Princes, and had sent a deputy to the +Parliament of Paris, who had orders to see neither the King nor the +ministers, and that the whole province was disposed for a revolt. The +Cardinal was in extreme consternation, and commended himself to the +favour of the meanest man of the Fronde with the greatest suppleness +imaginable. + +As soon as the King came to the neighbourhood of Bordeaux the deputies of +Parliament, who went to meet the Court at Lebourne, were peremptorily +commanded to open the gates of the city to the King and to all his +troops. They answered that one of their privileges was to guard the King +themselves while he was in any of their towns. Upon this, Marechal de La +Meilleraye seized the castle of Vaire, in the command of Pichon, whom the +Cardinal ordered to be hanged; and M. de Bouillon hanged an officer in +Meilleraye's army by way of reprisal. + +After that the Marshal besieged the city in form, which, despairing of +succour from Spain, was forced to capitulate upon the following terms: + +That a general pardon should be granted to all who had taken up arms and +treated with Spain, that all the soldiers should be disbanded except +those whom the King had a mind to keep in his pay, that Madame la +Princesse and the Duke should be at liberty to reside either in Anjou or +at Mouzon, with no more than two hundred foot and sixty horse, and that +M. d'Epernon should be recalled from the government of Guienne. + +The Princess had an interview with both the King and Queen, at which +there were great conferences between the Cardinal and the Ducs de +Bouillon and de La Rochefoucault. + +The deputy from Bordeaux, arriving at Paris soon after the King's +departure, went immediately, to Parliament, and, after an eloquent +harangue, presented a letter from the Parliament of Bordeaux, together +with their decrees, and demanded a union between the two Parliaments. +After some debates it was resolved that the deputy should deliver his +credentials in writing, which should be presented to his Majesty by the +deputies of the Parliament of Paris, who would, at the same time, most +humbly beseech the Queen to restore peace to Guienne. + +The Duc d'Orleans was against debating about the petition to the Queen +for the liberation of the Priuces and the banishment of Cardinal Mazarin; +nevertheless, many of the members voted for it, upon a motion made by the +President Viole, who was a warm partisan of the Prince de Conde, not +because he had hopes of carrying it, but on purpose to embarrass M. de +Beaufort and myself upon a subject of which we did not care to speak, and +yet did not dare to be altogether silent about, without passing in some +measure for Mazarinists. President Viole did the Prince a great deal of +service on this occasion, for Bourdet a brave soldier, who had been +captain of the Guards and was attached to the interest of the +Prince--performed an action which emboldened the party very much, though +it had no success. He dressed himself and fourscore other officers of +his troops in mason's clothes, and having assembled many of the dregs of +the people, to whom he had distributed money, came directly to the Duc +d'Orleans as he was going out, and cried, "No Mazarin! God bless the +Princes!" His Royal Highness, at this apparition and the firing of a +brace of pistols at the same time by Bourdet, ran to the Great Chamber; +but M. de Beaufort stood his ground so well with the Duke's guards and +our men, that Bourdet was repulsed and thrown down the Parliament stairs. + +But the confusion in the Great Chamber was still worse. There were daily +assemblies, wherein the Cardinal was severely attacked, and the Prince's +party had the pleasure of exposing us as his accomplices. What is very +strange is that at the same time the Cardinal and his friends accused us +of corresponding with the Parliament of Bordeaux, because we maintained, +in case the Court did not adjust affairs there, we would infallibly bring +the Parliament of Paris into the interest of the Prince. If I were at +the point of death I should have no need to be confessed on account of my +behaviour on this occasion. I acted with as much sincerity in this +juncture as if I had been the Cardinal's nephew, though really it was not +out of any love to him, but because I thought myself obliged in prudence +to oppose the progress of the Prince's faction, owing to the foolish +conduct of his enemies; and to this end I was obliged to oppose the +flattery of the Cardinal's tools as much as the efforts made by those who +were in the service of the Prince. + +On the 3d of September President Bailleul returned with the other +deputies, and made a report in Parliament of his journey to Court; it +was, in brief, that the Queen thanked the Parliament for their good +intentions, and had commanded them to assure the Parliament in her name +that she was ready to restore peace to Guienne, and that it would have +been done before now had not M. de Bouillon, who had treated with the +Spaniards, made himself master of Bordeaux, and thereby cut off the +effects of his Majesty's goodness. + +The Duc d'Orleans informed the House that he had received a letter from +the Archduke, signifying that the King of Spain having sent him full +powers to treat for a general peace, he desired earnestly to negotiate it +with him. But his Royal Highness added that he did not think it proper +to return him any answer till he had the opinion of the Parliament. The +trumpeter who brought the letter gathered a party at Tiroir cross, and +spoke very seditious words to the people. The next day they found libels +posted up and down the city in the name of M. de Turenne, setting forth +that the Archduke was coming with no other disposition than to make +peace, and in one of them were these words: "It is your business, +Parisians, to solicit your false tribunes, who have turned at last +pensioners and protectors of Mazarin, who have for so long a time sported +with your fortunes and repose, and spurred you on, kept you back, and +made you hot or cold, according to the caprices and different progress of +their ambition." + +You see the state and condition the Frondeurs were in at this juncture, +when they could not move one step but to their own disadvantage. The Duc +d'Orleans spoke to me that night with a great deal of bitterness against +the Cardinal, which he had never done before, and said he had been +tricked by him twice, and that he was ruining himself, the State, and all +of us, and would, by so doing, place the Prince de Conde upon the throne. +In short, Monsieur owned that it was not yet time to humble the Cardinal. +"Therefore," said M. Bellievre, "let us be upon our guard; this man can +give us the slip any moment." + +Next day a letter was sent from the Prince de Conde, by the Baron de +Verderonne, to the Archduke, desiring him to name the time, place and +persons for a treaty. The Baron returned with a letter from the Archduke +to his Royal Highness, desiring that the conferences might be held +between Rheims and Rhetel, and that they might meet there personally, +with such others as they should think fit to bring with them. The Court +was surprised, but, however, did not think fit to delay sending full +powers to his Royal Highness to treat for peace on such terms as he +thought reasonable and advantageous for the King's service; and there +were joined with him, though in subordination, MM. Mole, the First +President, d'Avaux, and myself, with the title of Ambassadors +Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries. M. d'Avaux obliged me to assure Don +Gabriel de Toledo, in private, that if the Spaniards would but come to +reasonable terms, we would conclude a peace with them in two days' time. +And his Royal Highness said that Don Gabriel being a lover of money, I +should promise him for his part 100,000 crowns if the conference that was +proposed ended in a peace, and bid him tell the Archduke that, if the +Spaniards proposed reasonable terms, he would sign and have them +registered in Parliament before Mazarin should know anything of the +matter. + +Don Gabriel received the overture with joy; he had some particular +fancies, but Fuensaldagne, who had a particular kindness for him, said +that he was the wisest fool he ever saw in his life. I have remarked +more than once that this sort of man cannot persuade, but can insinuate +perfectly well, and that the talent of insinuation is of more service +than that of persuasion, because one may insinuate to a hundred where one +can hardly persuade five. + +The King of England, after having lost the battle of Worcester, arrived +in Paris the day that Don Gabriel set out, the 13th of September, 1651. +My Lord Taff was his great chamberlain, valet de chambre, clerk of the +kitchen, cup-bearer, and all,--an equipage answerable to his Court, for +his Majesty had not changed his shirt all the way from England. Upon his +arrival at Paris, indeed, he had one lent him by my Lord Jermyn; but the +Queen, his mother, had not money to buy him another for the next day. The +Duc d'Orleans went to compliment his Majesty upon his arrival, but it was +not in my power to persuade his Royal Highness to give his nephew one +penny, because, said he, "a little would not be worth his acceptance, and +a great deal would engage me to do as much hereafter." This leads me to +make the following digression: that there is nothing so wretched as to be +a minister to a Prince, and, at the same time, not his favourite; for it +is his favour only that gives one a power over the more minute concerns +of the family, for which the public does, nevertheless, think a minister +accountable when they, see he has power over affairs of far greater +consequence. + +Therefore I was not in a condition to oblige his Royal Highness by +assisting the King of England with a thousand pistoles, for which I was +horridly, ashamed, both upon his account anal my own; but I borrowed +fifteen hundred for him from M. Morangis, and carried them to my Lord +Taff.--[Lord Clarendon extols the civilities of Cardinal de Retz to King +Charles II., and has reported a curious conversation which the Cardinal +had with that Prince.]--It is remarkable that the same night, as I was +going home, I met one Tilney, an Englishman whom I had formerly known at +Rome, who told me that Vere, a great Parliamentarian and a favourite of +Cromwell, had arrived in Paris and had orders to see me. I was a little +puzzled; however, I judged it would be improper to refuse him an +interview. Vere gave me a brief letter from Cromwell in the nature of +credentials, importing that the sentiments I had enunciated in the +"Defence of Public Liberty" added to my reputation, and had induced +Cromwell to desire to enter with me into the strictest friendship. The +letter was in the main wonderfully civil and complaisant. I answered it +with a great deal of respect, but in such a manner as became a true +Catholic and an honest Frenchman. Vere appeared to be a man of +surprising abilities. + +I now return to our own affairs. I was told as a mighty secret that +Tellier had orders from the Cardinal to remove the Princes from the Bois +de Vincennes if the enemy were likely to come near the place, and that he +should endeavour by all means to procure the consent of the Duc d'Orleans +for that end; but that, in case of refusal, these orders should be +executed notwithstanding, and that he should endeavour to gain me to +these measures by the means of Madame de Chevreuse. When Tellier came to +me I assured him that it was all one, both to me and the Duc d'Orleans, +whether the Princes were removed or not, but since my opinion was +desired, I must declare that I think nothing can be more contrary to the +true interest of the King; "for," said I, "the Spaniards must gain a +battle before they can come to Vincennes, and when there they must have a +flying camp to invest the place before they can deliver the Princes from +confinement, and therefore I am convinced that there is no necessity for +their removal, and I do affirm that all unnecessary changes in matters +which are in themselves disagreeable are pernicious, because odious. I +will maintain, further, that there is less reason to fear the Duc +d'Orleans and the Frondeurs than to dread the Spaniards. Suppose that +his Royal Highness is more disaffected towards the Court than anybody; +suppose further that M. de Beaufort and I have a mind to relieve the +Princes, in what way could we do it? Is not the whole garrison in that +castle in the King's service? Has his Royal Highness any regular troops +to besiege Vincennes? And, granting the Frondeurs to be the greatest +fools imaginable, will they expose the people of Paris at a siege which +two thousand of the King's troops might raise in a quarter of an hour +though it consist of a hundred thousand citizens? I therefore conclude +that the removal would be altogether impolitic. Does it not look rather +as if the Cardinal feigns apprehension of the Spaniards only as a +pretence to make himself master of the Princes, and to dispose of their +persons at pleasure? The generality of the people, being Frondeurs, will +conclude you take the Prince de Conde out of their hands,--whom they look +upon to be safe while they see him walking upon the battlements of his +prison,--and that you will give him his liberty when you please, and thus +enable him to besiege Paris a second time. On the other hand, the +Prince's party will improve this removal very much to their own advantage +by the compassion such a spectacle will raise in the people when they see +three Princes dragged in chains from one prison to another. I was really +mistaken just now when I said the case was all one to me, for I see that +I am nearly concerned, because the people--in which word I include the +Parliament will cry out against it; I must be then obliged, for my own +safety, to say I did not approve of the resolution. Then the Court will +be informed that I find fault with it, and not only that, but that I do +it in order to raise the mob and discredit the Cardinal, which, though +ever so false; yet in consequence the people will firmly believe it, and +thus I shall meet with the same treatment I met with in the beginning of +the late troubles, and what I even now experience in relation to the +affairs of Guienne. I am said to be the cause of these troubles because +I foretold them, and I was said to encourage the revolt at Bordeaux +because I was against the conduct that occasioned it." + +Tellier, in the Queen's name, thanked me for my unresisting disposition, +and made the same proposal to his Royal Highness; upon which I spoke, not +to second Tellier, who pleaded for the necessity of the removal, to which +I could by no means be reconciled, but to make it evident to his Royal +Highness that he was not in any way concerned in it in his own private +capacity, and that, in case the Queen did command it positively, it was +his duty to obey. M. de Beaufort opposed it so furiously as to offer the +Duc d'Orleans to attack the guards which were to remove him. I had solid +reasons to dissuade him from it, to the last of which he submitted, it +being an argument which I had from the Queen's own mouth when she set out +for Guienne, that Bar offered to assassinate the Princes if it should +happen that he was not in a condition to hinder their escape. I was +astonished when her Majesty trusted me with this secret, and imagined +that the Cardinal had possessed her with a fear that the Frondeurs had a +design to seize the person of the Prince de Conde. For my part, I never +dreamed of such a thing in my life. The Ducs d'Orleans and de Beaufort +were both shocked at the thought of it, and, in short, it was agreed that +his Royal Highness should give his consent for the removal, and that M. +de Beaufort and myself should not give it out among the people that we +approved of it. + +The day that the Princes were removed to Marcoussi, President Bellievre +told the Keeper of the Seals in plain terms, that if he continued to +treat me as he had done hitherto, he should be obliged in honour to give +his testimony to the truth. To which the Keeper of the Seals returned +this blunt answer: "The Princes are no longer in sight of Paris; the +Coadjutor must not therefore talk so loud." + +I return now to the Parliament, which was so moderate at this time that +the Cardinal was hardly mentioned, and they agreed, 'nemine +contradicente', that the Parliament should send deputies to Bordeaux to +know once for all if that Parliament was for peace or not. + +Soon after this the Parliament of Toulouse wrote to that of Paris +concerning the disturbances in Guienne, part whereof belonged to their +jurisdiction, and expressly demanded a decree of union. But the Duc +d'Orleans warded off the blow very dexterously, which was of great +consequence, and, more by his address than by his authority, brought the +Parliament to dismiss the deputies with civil answers and insignificant +expressions, upon which President Bellievre said to me, "What pleasure +should we not take in acting as we do if it were for persons that had but +the sense to appreciate it!" + +The Parliament did not continue long in that calm. They passed a decree +to interrogate the State prisoners in the Bastille, broke out sometimes +like a whirlwind, with thunder and lightning, against Cardinal Mazarin; +at other times they complained of the misapplication of the public funds. +We had much ado to ward off the blows, and should not have been able to +hold out long against the fury of the waves but for the news of the Peace +of Bordeaux, which was registered there on October the 1st, 1650, and put +the Prince de Conde's party into consternation. + +One mean artifice of Cardinal Mazarin's polity was always to entertain +some men of our own party, with whom, half reconciled, he played fast and +loose before our eyes, and was eternally negotiating with them, deceiving +and being deceived in his turn. The consequence of all this was a great, +thick cloud, wherein the Frondeurs themselves were at last involved; but +which they burst with a thunderclap. + +The Cardinal, being puffed up with his success in settling the troubles +of Guienne, thought of nothing else than crowning his triumph by +chastising the Frondeurs, who, he said, had made use of the King's +absence to alienate the Duc d'Orleans from his service, to encourage the +revolt at Bordeaux, and to make themselves masters of the persons of the +Princes. At the same time, he told the Princess Palatine that he +detested the cruel hatred I bore to the Prince de Conde, and that the +propositions I made daily to him on that score were altogether unworthy +of a Christian. Yet he suggested to the Duc d'Orleans that I made great +overtures to him to be reconciled to the Court, but that he could not +trust me, because I was from morning to night negotiating with the +friends of the Prince de Conde. Thus the Cardinal rewarded me for what I +did with incredible application and, I must say, uncommon sincerity for +the Queen's service during the Court's absence. I do not mention the +dangers I was in twice or thrice a day, surpassing even those of soldiers +in battles. For imagine, I beseech you, what pain and anguish I must +have been in at hearing myself called a Mazarinist, and at having to bear +all the odium annexed to that hateful appellation in a city where he made +it his business to destroy me in the opinion of a Prince whose nature it +was to be always in fear and to trust none but such as hoped to rise by +my fall. + +The Cardinal gave himself such airs after the peace at Bordeaux that some +said my best way would be to retire before the King's return. + +Cardinal Mazarin had been formerly secretary to Pancirole, the Pope's +nuncio for the peace of Italy, whom he betrayed, and it was proved that +he had a secret correspondence with the Governor of Milan. Pancirole, +being created cardinal and Secretary of State to the Church, did not +forget the perfidiousness of his secretary, now created cardinal by Pope +Urban, at the request of Cardinal de Richelieu, and did not at all +endeavour to qualify the anger which Pope Innocent had conceived against +Mazarin after the assassination of one of his nephews, in conjunction +with Cardinal Anthony. + +[Anthony Barberini, nephew to Urban VIII., created Cardinal 1628, made +Protector of the Crown of France 1633, and Great Almoner of the Kingdom +1653. He was afterwards Bishop of Poitiers, and, lastly, Archbishop of +Rheims in 1657. Died 1671.] + +Pancirole, who thought he could not affront Mazarin more than by +contributing to make me cardinal, did me all the kind offices with Pope +Innocent, who gave him leave to treat with me in that affair. + +Madame de Chevreuse told the Queen all that she had observed in my +conduct in the King's absence, and what she had seen was certainly one +continued series of considerable services done to the Queen. + +She recounted at last all the injustice done me, the contempt put upon +me, and the just grounds of my diffidence, which, she said, of necessity +ought to be removed, and that the only means of removing it was the hat. +The Queen was in a passion at this. The Cardinal defended himself, not +by an open denial, for he had offered it me several times, but by +recommending patience, intimating that a great monarch should be forced +to nothing. Monsieur, seconding Madame de Chevreuse in her attack, +assailed the Cardinal, who, at least in appearance, gave way, out of +respect for his Royal Highness. Madame de Chevreuse, having brought them +to parley, did not doubt that she should also bring them to capitulate, +especially when she saw the Queen was appeased, and had told his Royal +Highness that she was infinitely obliged to him, and would do what her +Council judged most proper and reasonable. This Council, which was only +a specious name, consisted only of the Cardinal, the Keeper of the Seals, +Tellier, and Servien. + +The matter was proposed to the Council by the Cardinal with much +importunity, concluding with a most submissive petition to the Queen to +condescend to the demand of the Duc d'Orleans, and to what the services +and merits of the Coadjutor demanded. The proposition was rejected with +such resolution and contempt as is very unusual in Council in opposition +to a Prime Minister. Tellier and Servien thought it sufficient not to +applaud him; but the Keeper of the Seals quite forgot his respect for the +Cardinal, accused him of prevarication and weakness, and threw himself at +her Majesty's feet, conjuring her in the name of the King her son, not to +authorise, by an example which he called fatal, the insolence of a +subject who was for wresting favours from his sovereign, sword in hand. +The Queen was moved at this, and the poor Cardinal owned he had been too +easy and pliant. + +I had myself given a very natural handle to my adversaries to expose me +so egregiously. I have been guilty of many blunders, but I think this is +the grossest that I ever was guilty of in all my life. I have frequently +made this observation, that when men have, through fear of miscarriage, +hesitated a long time about any undertaking of consequence, the remaining +impressions of their fear commonly push them afterwards with too much +precipitancy upon the execution of their design. And this was my case. +It was with the greatest reluctance that I determined to accept the +dignity of a cardinal, because I thought it too mean to form a pretension +to it without certainty of success; and no sooner was I engaged in the +pursuit of it but the impression of the former fearful ideas hurried me +on, as it were, to the end, that I might get as soon as possible out of +the disagreeable state of uncertainty. + +The Cardinal would have paid my debts, given me the place of Grand +Almoner, etc.; but if he had added twelve cardinals' hats into the +bargain, I should have begged his excuse. I was now engaged with +Monsieur, who had, meanwhile, resolved upon the release of the Princes +from their confinement. + +Cardinal Mazarin, after his return to Paris, made it his chief study to +divide the Fronde. He thought to materially weaken my interest with +Monsieur by detaching from me Madame de Chevreuse, for whom he had a +natural tenderness, and to give me a mortal blow by embroiling me with +Mademoiselle her daughter. To do this effectually he found a rival, who, +he hoped, would please her better, namely, M. d'Aumale, handsome as +Apollo, and one who was very likely to suit the temper of Mademoiselle de +Chevreuse. He had entirely devoted himself to the Cardinal's interest, +looked upon himself as very much honoured by this commission, and haunted +the Palace of Chevreuse so diligently that I did not doubt but that he +was sent thither to act the second part of the comedy which had +miscarried so shamefully in the hands of M. de Candale. I watched all +his movements, and complained to Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, but she gave +me indirect answers. I began to be out of humour, and was soon appeased. +I grew peevish again; and Mademoiselle de Chevreuse saying in his +presence, to please me and to sting him, that she could not imagine how +it was possible to bear a silly fellow, "Pardon me, mademoiselle," +replied I, "we suffer fops sometimes very patiently for the sake of their +extravagances." This man was notoriously foppish and extravagant. My +answer pleased, and we soon got rid of him at the Palace of Chevreuse. +But he thought to have despatched me, for he hired one Grandmaison, a +ruffian, to assassinate me, who apprised me of his design. The first +time I met M. d'Aumale, which was at the Duc d'Orleans's house, I did not +fail to let him know it; but I told it him in a whisper, saying that I +had too much respect for the House of Savoy to publish it to the world. +He denied the fact, but in such a manner as to make it more evident, +because he conjured me to keep it secret. I gave him my word, and I kept +it. + +Madame de Guemenee, with whom I had several quarrels, proposed to the +Queen likewise to despatch me, by shutting me up in a greenhouse in her +garden, which she might easily have done, because I often went to her +alone by night; but the Cardinal, fearing that the people would have +suspected him as the author of my sudden disappearance, would not enter +into the project, so it was dropped. + +To return to our negotiations for the freedom of the Princes. The Duc +d'Orleans was with much difficulty induced to sign the treaty by which a +marriage was stipulated between Mademoiselle de Chevreuse and the Prince +de Conti, and to promise not to oppose my promotion to the dignity of a +cardinal. The Princes were as active in the whole course of these +negotiations as if they had been at liberty. We wrote to them, and they +to us, and a regular correspondence between Paris and Lyons was never +better established than ours. Bar, their warder, was a very shallow +fellow; besides, men of sense are sometimes outwitted. + +[Bar was, according to M. Joly, an unsociable man, who was for raising +his fortune by using the Princes badly, and who, on this account, was +often the dupe of Montreuil, secretary to the Prince de Conti. +--See JOLY'S "Memoirs," vol. i., p. 88.] + +Cardinal Mazarin, upon his return with the King from Guienne, was greatly +pleased with the acclamations of the mob, but he soon grew weary of them, +for the Frondeurs still kept the wall. + +The Cardinal being continually provoked at Paris by the Abbe Fouquet, who +sought to make himself necessary, and being so vain as to think himself +qualified to command an army, marched abruptly out of Paris for +Champagne, with a design to retake Rhetel and Chateau-Portien, of which +the enemy were possessed, and where M. de Turenne proposed to winter. + +On the feast of Saint Martin, the First President and the +Attorney-General Talon exhorted the Parliament to be peaceable, that the +enemies of the State might have no advantage. A petition was read from +Madame la Princesse, desiring that the Princes should be brought to the +Louvre and remain in the custody, of one of the King's officers, and that +the Solicitor-General be sent for to say what he had to allege against +their innocence, and that in case he should have nothing solid to offer +they be set at liberty. + +The Chambers, being assembled on the 7th of December, to take the affair +into consideration, Talon, the Attorney-General, informed the House that +the Queen had sent for the King's Council, and ordered them to let the +Parliament know that it was her pleasure that the House should not take +any cognisance of the Princess's petition, because everything that had +relation to the confinement of the Princes belonged to the royal +authority. Talon made a motion that the Parliament should depute some +members to carry the petition to the Queen, and to beseech her Majesty to +take it into her consideration. At the same time another petition was +presented from Mademoiselle de Longueville, for the liberty of the Duke +her father, and that she might have leave to stay in Paris to solicit it. + +No sooner was this petition read than a letter from the three Princes was +presented and read, praying that they might be brought to trial or set at +liberty. + +On the 9th day of the month an order was brought to the Parliament from +the King, commanding the House to suspend all deliberations on this +subject till they had first sent their deputies to Court to know his +Majesty's pleasure. + +Deputies were sent immediately, to whom, accordingly, the Queen gave +audience in bed, telling them that she was very much indisposed. The +Keeper of the Seals added that it was the King's pleasure that the +Parliament should not meet at all until such time as the Queen his mother +had recovered her health. + +On the 10th the House resolved to adjourn only to the 14th, and on that +day a general procession was proposed to the Archbishop by the Dean of +Parliament, to beg that God would inspire them with such counsels only as +might be for the good of the public. + +On the 14th they received the King's letter, forbidding their debates, +and informing them that the Queen would satisfy them very speedily about +the affair of the Princes; but this letter was disregarded. They sent a +deputation to invite the Duc d'Orleans to come to the House, but, after +consulting with the Queen, he told the deputies that he did not care to +go, that the Assembly was too noisy, that he could not divine what they +would be at, that the affairs in debate were never known to fall under +their cognisance, and that they had nothing else to do but to refer the +said petitions to the Queen. + +On the 18th news came that Marechal du Plessis had gained a signal +victory over M. de Turenne, who was coming to succour Rhetel, but found +it already surrendered to Marechal du Plessis; and the Spanish garrison, +endeavouring to retreat, was forced to an engagement on the plains of +Saumepuis; that about 2,000 men were killed upon the spot, among the rest +a brother of the Elector Palatine, and six colonels, and that there were +nearly 4,000 prisoners, the most considerable of whom were several +persons of note, and all the colonels, besides twenty colours and +eighty-four standards. You may easily guess at the consternation of the +Princes' party; my house was all night filled with the lamentations of +despairing mourners, and I found the Duc d'Orleans, as it were, struck +dumb. + +On the 19th, as I went to the Parliament House, the people looked +melancholy, dejected, and frightened out of their wits. The members were +afraid to open their mouths, and nobody would mention the name of Mazarin +except Menardeau Champre, who spoke of him with encomiums, by giving him +the honour of the victory of Rhetel, and then he moved the House to +entreat the Queen to put the Princes into the hands of that good and wise +Minister, who would be as careful of them as he had been hitherto of the +State. I wondered most of all that this man was not hissed in the House, +and especially as he passed through the Great Hall. This circumstance, +together with what I saw that afternoon in every street, convinced me how +much our friends were dispirited, and I therefore resolved next day to +raise their courage. I knew the First President to be purblind, and such +men greedily swallow every new fact which confirms them in their first +impression. I knew likewise the Cardinal to be a man that supposed +everybody had a back door. The only way of dealing with men of that +stamp is to make them believe that you design to deceive those whom you +earnestly endeavour to serve. + +For this reason, on the 20th, I declaimed against the disorders of the +State, and showed that it having pleased Almighty God to bless his +Majesty's arms and to remove the public enemy from our frontiers by the +victory gained over them by Marechal du Plessis, we ought now to apply +ourselves seriously to the healing of internal wounds of the State, which +are the more dangerous because they are less obvious. To this I thought +fit to add that I was obliged to mention the general oppression of the +subjects at a time when we had nothing more to fear from the lately +routed Spaniards; that, as one of the props of the public safety was the +preservation of the royal family, I could not without the utmost concern +see the Princes breathe the unwholesome air of Havre-de-Grace, and that I +was of opinion that the House should humbly entreat the King to remove +them, at least to some place more healthy. At this speech everybody +regained their courage and concluded that all was not yet lost. It was +observed that the people's countenances were altered. Those in the Great +Hall resumed their former zeal, made the usual acclamations as we went +out, and I had that day three hundred carriages of visitors. + +On the 22d the debate was continued, and it was more and more observed +that the Parliament did not follow the triumphant chariot of Cardinal +Mazarin, whose imprudence in hazarding the fate of the whole kingdom in +the last battle was set off with all the disadvantages that could be +invented to tarnish the victory. + +The 30th crowned the work, and produced a decree for making most humble +remonstrances to the Queen for the liberty of the Princes and for +Mademoiselle de Longueville staying in Paris. + +It was further resolved to send a deputation to the Duc d'Orleans, to +desire his Royal Highness to use his interest on this occasion in favour +of the said Princes. + +The King's Council having waited on her Majesty with the remonstrances +aforesaid, she pretended to be under medical treatment, and put off the +matter a week longer. The Duc d'Orleans also gave an ambiguous answer. +The Queen's course of treatment continued eight or ten days longer than +she imagined, or, rather, than she said, and consequently the +remonstrances of the Parliament were not made till the 20th of January, +1651. + +On the 28th the First President made his report, and said the Queen had +promised to return an answer in a few days. + +It happened very luckily for us at this time that the imprudence of the +Cardinal was greater than the inconstancy of the Duc d'Orleans, for a +little before the Queen returned an answer to the remonstrances, he +talked very roughly to the Duke in the Queen's presence, charging him +with putting too much confidence in me. The very day that the Queen made +the aforesaid answer he spoke yet more arrogantly to the Duke in her +Majesty's apartment, comparing M. de Beaufort and myself to Cromwell and +Fairfax in the House of Commons in England, and exclaimed furiously in +the King's presence, so that he frightened the Duke, who was glad he got +out of the King's Palace with a whole skin, and who said that he would +never put himself again in the power of that furious woman, meaning the +Queen, because she had improved on what the Cardinal had said to the +King. I resolved to strike the iron while it was hot, and joined with M. +de Beaufort to persuade his Royal Highness to declare himself the next +day in Parliament. We showed him that, after what had lately passed, +there was no safety for his person, and if the King should go out of +Paris, as the Cardinal designed, we should be engaged in a civil war, +whereof he alone, with the city of Paris, must bear the heavy load; that +it would be equally scandalous and dangerous for his Royal Highness +either to leave the Princes in chains, after having treated with them, +or, by his dilatory proceedings, suffer Mazarin to have all the honour of +setting them at liberty, and that he ought by all means to go to the +Parliament House. + +The Duchess, too, seconded us, and upon his Highness saying that if he +went to the House to declare against the Court the Cardinal would be sure +to take his Majesty out of Paris, the Duchess replied, "What, monsieur, +are you not Lieutenant-General of France? Do not you command the army? +Are you not master of the people? I myself will undertake that the King +shall not go out of Paris." The Duke nevertheless remained inflexible, +and all we could get out of him was that he would consent to my telling +the Parliament, in his name, what we desired he should say himself. In a +word, he would have me make the experiment, the success of which he +looked upon to be very uncertain, because he thought the Parliament would +have nothing to say against the Queen's answer, and that if I succeeded +he should reap the honour of the proposition. I readily accepted the +commission, because all was at stake, and if I had not executed it the +next morning I am sure the Cardinal would have eluded setting the Princes +at liberty a great while longer, and the affair have ended in a +negotiation with them against the Duke. + +The Duchess, who saw that I exposed myself for the public good, pitied me +very much. She did all she could to persuade the Duke to command me to +mention to the Parliament what the Cardinal had told the King with +relation to Cromwell, Fairfax and the English Parliament, which, if +declared in the Duke's name, she thought would excite the House the more +against Mazarin; and she was certainly in the right. But he forbade me +expressly. + +I ran about all night to incite the members at their first meeting to +murmur at the Queen's answer, which in the main was very plausible, +importing that, though this affair did not fall within the cognisance of +Parliament, the Queen would, however, out of her abundant goodness, have +regard to their supplications and restore the Princes to liberty. +Besides, it promised a general amnesty to all who had borne arms in their +favour, on condition only that M. de Turenne should lay down his arms, +that Madame de Longueville should renounce her treaty with Spain, and +that Stenai and Murzon should be evacuated. + +At first the Parliament seemed to be dazzled with it, but next day, the +1st of February, the whole House was undeceived, and wondered how it had +been so deluded. The Court of Inquests began to murmur; Viole stood up +and said that the Queen's answer was but a snare laid for the Parliament +to beguile them; that the 12th of March, the time fixed for the King's +coronation, was just at hand; and that as soon as the Court was out of +Paris they, would laugh at the Parliament. At this discourse the old and +new Fronde stood up, and when I saw they, were greatly excited I waved +my cap and said that the Duke had commanded me to inform the House that +the regard he had for their sentiments having confirmed him in those he +always naturally, entertained of his cousins, he was resolved to concur +with them for procuring their liberty, and to contribute everything in +his power to effect it; and it is incredible what influence these few +words had upon the whole assembly. I was astonished at it myself. The +wisest senators seemed as mad as the common people, and the people madder +than ever. Their acclamations exceeded anything you can imagine, and, +indeed, nothing less was sufficient to give heart to the Duke, who had +all night been bringing forth new projects with more sorrowful pangs and +throes (as the Duchess expressed it) than ever she had felt when in +labour with all her children. + +When he was fully informed of the good success of his declaration, he +embraced me several times before all the company, and M. Tellier going to +wait upon him from the Queen, to know if he acknowledged what I had said +in his name in the House, "Yes," replied he, "I own, and always will own, +all that he shall say or act in my name." We thought that after a solemn +declaration of this nature the Duke would not scruple to take all the +necessary precautions to prevent the Cardinal carrying away the King, and +to that end the Duchess did propose to have all the gates of the city +well guarded, under pretence of some popular tumults. But he was deaf to +all she said, pretending that he was loth to make his King a prisoner. + +On the 2d of February, 1651, the Duke, urged very importunately by the +Princes' party informing him that their liberty depended on it, told them +that he was going to perform an action which would remove all their +diffidence. He sent immediately for the Keeper of the Seals, Marechal +Villeroi; and Tellier, and bade them tell the Queen that he would never +come to the Palais Royal as long as Mazarin was there, and that he could +no longer treat with a man that ruined the State. And, then, turning +towards Marechal Villeroi, "I charge you," said he, "with the King's +person; you shall be answerable for him to me." I was sadly afraid this +would be a means to hasten the King's departure, which was what we +dreaded most of all, and I wondered that the Cardinal did not remove +after such a declaration. I thought his head was turned, and indeed I +was told that he was beside himself for a fortnight together. + +The Duke having openly declared against Mazarin, and being resolved to +attack and drive him out of the kingdom, bade me inform the House next +day, in his name, how the Cardinal had compared their body to the Rump +Parliament in England, and some of their members to Cromwell and Fairfax. +I improved upon this as much as possible, and I daresay that so much heat +and ferment was never seen in any society before. Some were for sending +the Cardinal a personal summons to appear on the spot, to give an account +of his administration; but the most moderate were for making most humble +remonstrances to the Queen for his removal. You may easily guess what a +thunderclap this must have been to the Court. The Queen asked the Duke +whether she might bring the Cardinal to his Royal Highness. His answer +was that he did not think it good for the safety of his own person. She +offered to come alone to confer with his Highness at the Palais +d'Orleans, but he excused himself with a great deal of respect. + +He sent orders an hour after to the Marshals of France to obey him only, +as Lieutenant-General of the State, and likewise to the 'prevots des +marchands' not to take up arms except by his authority. You will wonder, +without doubt, that after all this noise no care was taken of the gates +of Paris to prevent the King's departure. The Duchess, who trembled at +the thoughts of it, daily redoubled her endeavours to induce the Duke to +secure the gates of the city, but all to no purpose; for weak minds are +generally deficient in some respect or other. + +On the 4th the Duke came to the Parliament and assured the assembly of +his concurrence in everything to reform the State and to procure the +liberty of the Princes and the Cardinal's removal. As soon as his Royal +Highness had done speaking, the Master of the Ceremonies was admitted +with a letter from the King, which was read, and which required the House +to separate, and to send as many deputies as they could to the Palais +Royal to hear the King's will and pleasure. Deputies were accordingly +sent immediately, for whose return the bulk of the members stayed in the +Great Chamber. I was informed that this was one trick among others +concerted to ruin me, and, telling the Duc d'Orleans of it, he said that +if the old buffoon, the Keeper of the Seals, was concerned in such a +complication of folly and knavery, he deserved to be hanged by the side +of Mazarin. But the sequel showed that I was not out in my information. + +As soon as the deputies were come to the Palais Royal, the First +President told the Queen that the Parliament was extremely concerned that +the Princes were still confined, notwithstanding her royal promise for +setting them at liberty. The Queen replied that Marchal de Grammont was +sent to release them and to see to their necessary security for the +public tranquillity, but that she had sent for them in relation to +another affair, which the Keeper of the Seals would explain to them, and +which he couched in a sanguinary manifesto, in substance as follows: + +"All the reports made by the Coadjutor in Parliament are false, and +invented by him. He lies!" (This is the only word the Queen added to +what was already written). "He is a very wicked, dangerous man, and +gives the Duke very pernicious advice; he wants to ruin the State because +we have refused to make him cardinal, and has publicly boasted that he +will set fire to the four corners of the kingdom, and that he will have +100,000 men in readiness to dash out the brains of those that shall +attempt to put it out." These expressions were very harsh, and I am sure +that I never said anything like that; but it was of no use at this time +to make the cloud which was gathering over the head of Mazarin fall in a +storm upon mine. The Court saw that Parliament was assembled to pass a +decree for setting the Princes at liberty, and that the Duke in person +was declaring against Mazarin in the Grand Chamber, and therefore they +believed that a diversion would be as practicable as it was necessary, +namely, to bring me upon my trial in such a manner that the Parliament +could not refuse nor secure me from the railleries of the most +inconsiderable member. Everything that tended to render the attack +plausible was made use of, as well as everything that might weaken my +defence. The writing was signed by the four Secretaries of State, and, +the better to defeat all that I could say in my justification, the Comte +de Brienne was sent at the heels of the deputies with an order to desire +the Duc d'Orleans to come to a conference with the Queen in relation to +some few difficulties that remained concerning the liberty of the +Princes. + +When the deputies had returned to Parliament, the First President began +with reading the paper which had been delivered to him against me, upon +which you might have read astonishment in every face. Menardeau, who was +to open the trenches against me, was afraid of a salvo from the Great +Hall, where he found such a crowd of people, and heard so many +acclamations to the Fronde, and so many imprecations against Mazarin, +that he durst not open his mouth against me, but contented himself with a +pathetic lamentation of the division that was in the State, and +especially in the royal family. The councillors were so divided that +some of them were for appointing public prayers for two days; others +proposed to desire his Royal Highness to take care of the public safety. +I resolved to treat the writing drawn up against me by the Cardinal as a +satire and a libel, and, by some ingenious, short passage, to arouse the +minds of my hearers. As my memory did not furnish me with anything in +ancient authors that had any relation to my subject, I made a small +discourse in the best Latin I was capable of, and then spoke thus: + +"Were it not for the profound respect I bear to the persons who have +spoken before me, I could not forbear complaining of their not crying out +against such a scurrilous, satirical paper, which was just now read, +contrary to all forms of proceeding, and written in the same style as +lately profaned the sacred name of the King, to encourage false witnesses +by letters-patent. I believe that those persons thought this paper, +which is but a sally of the furious Mazarin, to be much beneath +themselves and me. And that I may conform my opinion to theirs, I will +answer only by repeating a passage from an ancient author: 'In the worst +of times I did not forsake the city, in the most prosperous I had no +particular views, and in the most desperate times of all I feared +nothing.' I desire to be excused for running into this digression. I +move that you would make humble remonstrances to the King, to desire him +to despatch an order immediately for setting the Princes at liberty, to +make a declaration in their favour, and to remove Cardinal Mazarin from +his person and Councils." + +My opinion was applauded both by the Frondeurs and the Prince's party, +and carried almost 'nemine contradicente'. + +Talon, the Attorney-General, did wonders. I never heard or read anything +more eloquent or nervous. He invoked the names of Henri the Great, and +upon his knees recommended the kingdom of France in general to the +protection of Saint Louis. + +Brienne, who had been sent by the Queen to desire an interview with the +Duc d'Orleans, was dismissed with no other answer than that the Duke +would come to pay his humble duty to the Queen as soon as the Princes +were at liberty, and Cardinal Mazarin removed from the King's person and +Councils. + +On the 5th of February there was an assembly of the nobility at Nemours +for recovering their privileges. I opposed it to the utmost of my power, +for I had experienced more than once that nothing can be more pernicious +to a party than to engage without any necessity in such affairs as have +the bare appearance of faction, but I was obliged to comply. This +assembly, however, was so terrifying to the Court that six companies of +the Guards were ordered to mount, with which the Duc d'Orleans was so +offended that he sent word to the officers, in his capacity of +Lieutenant-General of the State, to receive no orders but from himself. +They answered very respectfully, but as men devoted to the Queen's +interest. + +On the 6th, the Duke having taken his place in the Parliament, the King's +Council acquainted the House that, having been sent to wait on her +Majesty with the remonstrances, her Majesty's answer was that no person +living wished more for the liberty of the Princes than herself, but that +it was reasonable at the same time to consult the safety of the State; +that as for Cardinal Mazarin, she was resolved to retain him in her +Council as long as she found his assistance necessary for the King's +service; and that it did not belong to the Parliament to concern +themselves with any of her ministers. + +The First President was shrewdly attacked in the House for not being more +resolute in speaking to the Queen. Some were for sending him back to +demand another audience in the afternoon; and the Duc d'Orleans having +said that the Marshals of France were dependent on Mazarin, it was +resolved immediately that they should obey none but his Royal Highness. + +I was informed that very evening that the Cardinal had made his escape +out of Paris in disguise, and that the Court was in a very great +consternation. + +The Cardinal's escape was the common topic of conversation, and different +reasons were assigned to it, according to the various interests of +different parties. As for my part, I am very well persuaded that fear +was the only reason of his flight, and that nothing else hindered him +from taking the King and the Queen along with him. You will see in the +sequel of this history that he endeavoured to get their Majesties out of +Paris soon after he had made his escape, and that it was concerted in all +probability before he left the Court; but I could never understand why he +did not put it into execution at a time when he had no reason to fear the +least opposition. + +On the 17th the Parliament ordered the thanks of the House to be returned +to the Queen for removing the Cardinal, and that she should be humbly +asked to issue an order for setting the Princes at liberty, and a +declaration for excluding all foreigners forever from the King's Council. +The First President being deputed with the message, the Queen told him +that she could return him no answer till she had conferred with the Duc +d'Orleans, to whom she immediately deputed the Keeper of the Seals, +Marechal Villeroi, and Tellier; but he told them that he could not go to +the Palais Royal till the Princes were set at liberty and the Cardinal +removed further from the Court. For he observed to the House that the +Cardinal was no further off than at Saint Germain, where he governed all +the kingdom as before, that his nephew and his nieces were yet at Court; +and the Duke proposed that the Parliament should humbly beseech the Queen +to explain whether the Cardinal's removal was for good and all. If I had +not seen it, I could not have imagined what a heat the House was in that +day. Some were for an order that there should be no favourites in France +for the future. They became at length of the opinion of his Royal +Highness, namely, to address the Queen to ask her to explain herself with +relation to the removal of Cardinal Mazarin and to solicit orders for the +liberty, of the Princes. + +On the same day the Queen sent again to desire the Duc d'Orleans to come +and take his place in the Council, and to tell him that, in case he did +not think it convenient, she would send the Keeper of the Seals to +concert necessary measures with him for setting the Princes at liberty. +His Royal Highness accepted the second, but rejected the first proposal, +and treated M. d'Elbeuf roughly, because he was very pressing with his +Royal Highness to go to the King's Palace. The messengers likewise +acquainted the Duke that they were ordered to assure him that the removal +of the Cardinal was forever. You will see presently that, in all +probability, had his Royal Highness gone that day to Court, the Queen +would have left Paris and carried the Duke along with her. + +On the 19th the Parliament decreed that, in pursuance of the Queen's +declaration, the Cardinal should, within the space of fifteen days, +depart from his Majesty's dominions, with all his relations and foreign +servants; otherwise, they should be proceeded against as outlaws, and it +should be lawful for anybody to despatch them out of the way. + +I suspected that the King would leave Paris that very day, and I was +almost asleep when I was sent for to go to the Duc d'Orleans, whom +Mademoiselle de Chevreuse went to awaken in the meantime; and, while I +was dressing, one of her pages brought me a note from her, containing +only these few words: + +"Make haste to Luxembourg, and be upon your guard on the way." I found +Mademoiselle de Chevreuse in his chamber, who acquainted me that the King +was out of bed, and had his boots on ready for a journey from Paris. + +I waited on the Duke, and said, "There is but one remedy, which is, to +secure the gates of Paris." Yet all that we could obtain of him was to +send the captain of the Swiss Guards to wait on the Queen and desire her +Majesty to weigh the consequences of an action of that nature. His +Duchess, perceiving that this expedient, if not supported effectually, +would ruin all, and that his Royal Highness was still as irresolute as +ever, called for pen and ink that lay upon the table in her cabinet, and +wrote these words on a large sheet of paper: + +M. le Coadjuteur is ordered to take arms to hinder the adherents of +Cardinal Mazarin, condemned by the Parliament, from carrying the King out +of Paris. MARGUERITE DE LORRAINE. + +Des Touches, who found the Queen bathed in tears, was charged by her +Majesty to assure the Duc d'Orleans that she never thought of carrying +away the King, and that it was one of my tricks. + +The Duc d'Orleans saying at the House next day that orders for the +Princes' liberty would be despatched in two hours' time, the First +President said, with a deep sigh, "The Prince de Conde is at liberty, but +our King, our sovereign Lord and King, is a prisoner." The Duc +d'Orleans, being now not near so timorous as before, because he had +received more acclamations in the streets than ever, replied, "Truly the +King has been Mazarin's prisoner, but, God be praised, he is now in +better hands." + +The Cardinal, who hovered about Paris till he heard the city had taken up +arms, posted to Havre-de-Grace, where he fawned upon the Prince de Conde +with a meanness of spirit that is hardly to be imagined; for he wept, and +even fell down on his knees to the Prince, who treated him with the +utmost contempt, giving him no thanks for his release. + +On the 16th of February the Princes, being set at liberty, arrived in +Paris, and, after waiting on the Queen, supped with M. de Beaufort and +myself at the Duc d'Orleans's house, where we drank the King's health and +"No Mazarin!" + +On the 17th his Royal Highness carried them to the Parliament House, and +it is remarkable that the same people who but thirteen months before made +bonfires for their confinement did the same now for their release. + +On the 20th the declaration demanded of the King against the Cardinal, +being brought to be registered in Parliament, was sent back with +indignation because the reason of his removal was coloured over with so +many encomiums that it was a perfect panegyric. Honest Broussel, who +always went greater lengths than anybody, was for excluding all cardinals +from the Ministry, as well as foreigners in general, because they swear +allegiance to the Pope. The First President, thinking to mortify me, +lauded Broussel for a man of admirable good sense, and espoused his +opinion; and the Prince de Conde, too, seemed to be overjoyed, saying, +"It is a charming echo." Indeed, I might well be troubled to think that +the very day after a treaty wherein the Duc d'Orleans declared that he +was resolved to make me a cardinal, the Prince should second a +proposition so derogatory to that dignity. But the truth is, the Prince +had no hand in it, for it came naturally, and was supported for no other +reason but because nothing that was brought as an argument against +Mazarin could then fail of being approved at the same time. I had some +reason to think that the motion was concerted beforehand by my enemies, +to keep me out of the Ministry. Nevertheless, I was not offended with +the Parliament, the bulk of whom I knew to be my friends, whose sole aim +was to effectually demolish Mazarin, and I acquiesced in the solid +satisfaction which I had in being considered in the world as the expeller +of Mazarin, whom everybody hated, and the deliverer of the Princes, who +were as much their darlings. + +The continual chicanery of the Court provoked the Parliament of Paris to +write to all the Parliaments of France to issue decrees against Cardinal +Mazarin, which they did accordingly. The Parliament obliged the Court to +issue a declaration setting forth the innocence of the Princes, and +another for the exclusion of cardinals--French as well as +foreigners--from the King's Council, and the Parliament had no rest till +the Cardinal retired from Sedan to Breule, a house belonging to the +Elector of Cologne. + +I had advice sent me from the Duchesse d'Orleans to be upon my guard, and +that she was on the point of dying with fear lest the Duke should be +forced by the daily menaces of the Court to abandon me. I thereupon +waited on the Duke, and told him that, having had the honour and +satisfaction of serving his Royal Highness in the two affairs which he +had most at heart,--namely, the expelling of Mazarin and the releasing of +the Princes his cousins,--I found myself now obliged to reassume the +functions of my profession; that the present opportunity seemed both to +favour and invite my retreat, and if I neglected it I should be the most +imprudent man living, because my presence for the future would not only +be useless but even prejudicial to his Royal Highness, whom I knew to be +daily importuned and irritated by the Court party merely upon my account; +and therefore I conjured him to make himself easy, and give me leave to +retire to my cloister. The Duke spared no kind words to retain me in his +service, promised never to forsake me, confessed that he had been urged +to it by the Queen, and that, though his reunion with her Majesty and the +Princes obliged him to put on the mask of friendship, yet he could never +forget the great affronts and injuries which he had received from the +Court. But all this could not dissuade me, and the Duke at last gave his +approbation, with repeated assurances to allow me a place next his heart +and to correspond with me in secret. + +Having taken my leave of the Princes, I retired accordingly to my +cloister of Notre-Dame, where I did not trust Providence so far as to +omit the use of human means for defending myself against the insults of +my enemies. + +Except the visits which I paid in the night-time to the Hotel de +Chevreuse, I conversed with none but canons and cures. I was the object +of raillery both at Court and at the Palace of Conde; and because I had +set up a bird-cage at a window, it became a common jest that "the +Coadjutor whistled to the linnets." The disposition of Paris, however, +made amends for the raillery of the Court. I found myself very secure, +while other people were very uneasy. The cures, parish priests, and even +the mendicants, informed themselves with diligence of the negotiations of +the Prince de Conde. I gave M. de Beaufort a thrust now and then, which +he knew not how to parry with all his cunning, and the Duc d'Orleans, who +in his heart was enraged against the Court, continued his correspondence +with me very faithfully. + +Soon after, the Marechal du Plessis came to me at midnight and embraced +me, saying, "I greet you as our Prime Minister." When he saw that I +smiled, he added, "I do not jest; you may be so if you please. The Queen +has ordered me to tell you that she puts the King and Crown into your +hands." He showed me a letter written in the Cardinal's own hand to the +Queen, which concluded thus: + +"You know, madame, that the greatest enemy I have in the world is the +Coadjutor. Make use of him rather than treat with the Prince upon those +conditions he demands. Make him a cardinal, give him my place, and lodge +him in my apartments. Perhaps he will be still more attached to the Duc +d'Orleans than to your Majesty; but the Duke is not for the ruin of the +State. His intentions in the main are not bad. In a word, madame, do +anything rather than grant the Prince his demand to have the government +of Provence added to that of Guienne." + +I told the Marshal that I could not but be highly obliged to his +Eminence, and that I was under infinite obligations to the Queen; and to +show my gratitude, I humbly begged her Majesty to permit me to serve her +without any private interest of my own; said that I was very incapable +for the place of Prime Minister upon many accounts, and that it was not +consistent with her Majesty's dignity to raise a man to that high post +who was still reeking, as it were, with the fumes of faction. + +"But," said the Marshal, "the place must be filled by somebody, and as +long as it is vacant the Prince will be always urging that Cardinal +Mazarin is to have it again." + +"You have," said I, "persons much fitter for it than I." Then he showed +me a letter signed by the Queen, promising me all manner of security if I +would come to Court. I went thither at midnight, according to agreement, +and the Marshal, who introduced me to the Queen by the back stairs, +having withdrawn, her Majesty used all the arguments she could to +persuade me to accept the place of Prime Minister, which I was determined +to refuse, because I found that she had the Cardinal at heart more than +ever; for, as soon as she saw I would not accept the post of Prime +Minister, she offered me the cardinal's hat, but with this proviso, that +I would use my utmost endeavours towards the restoration of Cardinal +Mazarin. Then I judged it high time for me to speak my mind, which I did +as follows: + +"It is a great affliction to me, madame, that public affairs are reduced +to such a pass as not only warrants, but even commands a subject to speak +to his sovereign in the style in which I am now about to address your +Majesty. It is well known to you that one of my worst crimes in the +Cardinal's opinion is that I foretold all these things, and that I have +passed for the author of events of which I was only the prophet. Your +Majesty would fain extricate yourself with honour, and you are in the +right; but permit me to tell you, as my opinion, that it can never be +effected so long as your Majesty entertains any thoughts of +reestablishing Mazarin. I should fail in the respect I owe to your +Majesty if I pretended to thwart your Majesty's opinion with regard to +the Cardinal in any other way than with my most humble remonstrances; but +I humbly conceive I do but discharge my bounden duty while I respectfully +represent to your Majesty wherein I may be serviceable or useless to you +at this critical juncture. Your Majesty has the Prince to cope with, +who, indeed, is for the restoration of the Cardinal, but upon condition +that you give him such powers beforehand as will enable him to ruin him +at pleasure. To resist the Prince you want the Duc d'Orleans, who is +absolutely against the Cardinal's reestablishment, and who, provided he +be excluded, will do what your Majesty pleases to command him. You will +neither satisfy the Prince nor the Duke. I am extremely desirous to +serve your Majesty against the one and with the other, but I can do +neither the one nor the other without making use of proper means for +obtaining those two different ends." + +"Come over to me," said she, "and I shall not care a straw for all the +Duke can do." + +I answered, "Should I do so, and should it appear never so little that I +was on terms of reconciliation with the Cardinal, I could serve your +Majesty with neither the Duke nor the people, for both would hate me +mortally, and I should be as useless to your Majesty as the Bishop of +Dole." + +At this the Queen was very angry, and said, "Heaven bless my son the +King, for he is deserted by all the world! I do all I can for you, I +offer you a place in my Council, I offer you the cardinalship; pray what +will you do for me?" + +I said that I did not come to receive favours, but to try to merit them. + +At this the Queen's countenance began to brighten, and she said, very +softly, "What is it, then, that you will do?" + +"Madame," said I, "I will oblige the Prince, before a week is at an end, +to leave Paris; and I will detach the Duke from his interest to-morrow." + +The Queen, overjoyed, held out her hand and said, "Give me yours, and I +promise you that you shall be cardinal the next day, and the second man +in my friendship." She desired also that Mazarin and I might be good +friends; but I answered that the least touch upon that string would put +me out of tune and render me incapable of doing her any service; +therefore I conjured her to let me still enjoy the character of being his +enemy. + +"Was anything," said the Queen, "ever so strange and unaccountable? Can +you not possibly serve me without being the enemy of him in whom I most +confide?" + +I told her it must needs be so. "Madame," I said, "I humbly beseech your +Majesty to let me tell you that, as long as the place of Prime Minister +is not filled up, the Prince will increase in power on pretence that it +is kept vacant to receive the Cardinal by a speedy restoration." + +"You see," said her Majesty, "how the Prince treats me; he has insulted +me ever since I disowned my two traitors,--Servien and Lionne." I took +the opportunity while she was flushed with anger to make my court to her +by saying that before two days were at an end the Prince should affront +her no longer. But the tenderness she had for her beloved Cardinal made +her unwilling to consent that I should continue to exclaim against his +Eminence in Parliament, where one was obliged to handle him very roughly +almost every quarter of an hour. She bade me remember that it was the +Cardinal who had solicited my nomination. I answered that I was highly +obliged to his Eminence upon that score, and that I was ready to give him +proofs of my acknowledgment in anything wherein my honour was not +concerned, but that I should be a double-dealer if I promised to +contribute to his reestablishment. Then she said, "Go! you are a very +devil. See Madame Palatine, and let me hear from you the night before +you go to the Parliament." + +I do not think I was in the wrong to refuse her offer. We must never +jest with proffered service; for if it be real, we can never embrace it +too much; but if false, we can never keep at too great a distance. I +lamented to the public the sad condition of our affairs, which had +obliged me to leave my dear retirement, where, after so much disturbance +and confusion, I hoped to enjoy comfortable rest; that we were falling +into a worse condition than we were in before, because the State suffered +more by the daily negotiations carried on with Mazarin than it had done +by his administrations; and that the Queen was still buoyed up with hopes +of his reestablishment. + +The Prince de Conde having inflamed the Parliament, to make himself more +formidable to the Queen and Court, some new scenes were opened every day. +At one time they sent to the provinces to inform against the Cardinal; at +another time they made search after his effects at Paris. + +I went one day with four hundred men in my company to the Parliament +House, where the Prince de Conde inveighed against the exportation of +money out of the kingdom by the Cardinal's banker. But afterwards I +absented myself for awhile from Parliament, which made me suspected of +being less an enemy to the Cardinal, and I was pelted with a dozen or +fifteen libels in the space of a fortnight, by a fellow whose nose had +been slit for writing a lampoon against a lady of quality. I composed a +short but general answer to all, entitled "An Apology for the Ancient and +True Fronde." There was a strong paper war between the old and new +Fronde for three or four months, but afterwards they united in the attack +on Mazarin. There were about sixty volumes of tracts written during the +civil war, but I am sure that there are not a hundred sheets worth +reading. + +I was sent for again to another private conference with the Queen, who, +dreading an arrangement with the Prince de Conde, was for his being +arrested, and advised me to consider how it might be done. It seems that +M. Hoquincourt had offered to kill him in the street, as the shortest way +to be rid of him, for she desired me to confer about it with Hoquincourt, +"who will," said she, "show you a much surer way." The Queen, +nevertheless, would not own she had ever such a thought, though she was +heard to say, "The Coadjutor is not a man of so much courage as I took +him for." + +The next day I was informed that the Queen could endure the Prince no +longer, and that she had advices that he had formed a design to seize the +King; that he had despatched orders to Flanders to treat with the +Spaniards, and that either he or she must be ruined; that she was not for +shedding blood, and that what Hoquincourt proposed was far from it, +because he promised to secure the Prince without striking a blow if I +would answer for the people. + +The Parliament continued to prosecute Mazarin, who was convicted of +embezzling some nine millions of the public money. The Prince assembled +the Chambers, and persuaded them to issue a new decree against all those +of the Court party who held correspondence with the said Cardinal. + +The Prince de Conde, being uneasy at seeing Mazarin's creatures still at +Court, retired to Saint Maur on the 6th of July, 1651. On the 7th the +Prince de Conti acquainted the Parliament with the reasons for his +departure, and talked in general of the warnings he had received from +different hands of a design the Court had formed against his life, adding +that his brother could not be safe at Court as long as Tellier, Servien, +and Lionne were not removed. There was a very hot debate in the ensuing +session between the Prince de Conti and the First President. The latter +talked very warmly against his retreat to Saint Maur, and called it a +melancholy prelude to a civil war. He hinted also that the said Prince +was the author of the late disturbances, upon which the Prince de Conti +threatened that had he been in any other place he would have taught him +to observe the respect due to Princes of the blood. The First President +said that he did not fear his threats, and that he had reason to complain +of his Royal Highness for presuming to interrupt him in a place where he +represented the King's person. Both parties were now in hot blood, and +the Duke, who was very glad to see it, did not interpose till he could +not avoid it, and then he told them both that they should endeavour to +keep their temper. + +On the 14th of July a decree was passed, upon a motion made by the Duc +d'Orleans, that the thanks of the Parliament should be presented to her +Majesty for her gracious promise that the Cardinal should never return; +that she should be most humbly entreated to send a declaration to +Parliament, and likewise to give the Prince de Conde all the necessary +securities for his return; and that those persons who kept up +correspondence with Mazarin should be immediately prosecuted. + +On the 18th the First President carried the remonstrances of the +Parliament to the Queen, and though he took care to keep within the terms +of the decree, by not naming the under ministers, yet he pointed them out +in such a manner that the Queen complained bitterly, saying that the +First President was "an unaccountable man, and more vexatious than any of +the malcontents." + +When I took the liberty to show her that the representative of an +assembly could not, without prevarication, but deliver the thoughts of +the whole body, though they might be different from his own, she replied, +very angrily, "These are mere republican maxims." + +I will give you an account of the success of the remonstrances after I +have related an adventure to you which happened at the Parliament House +during these debates. + +The importance of the subject drew thither a large number of ladies who +were curious to hear what passed. Madame and Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, +with many other ladies, were there the evening before the decree was +passed; but they were singled out from the rest by one Maillard, a +brawling fellow, hired by the Prince's party. As ladies are commonly +afraid of a crowd, they stayed till the Duc d'Orleans and the rest were +gone out, but when they came into the hall they were hooted by twenty or +thirty ragamuffins of the same quality as their leader, who was a +cobbler. I knew nothing of it till I came to the Palace of Chevreuse, +where I found Madame de Chevreuse in a rage and her daughter in tears. I +endeavoured to comfort them by the assurance that I would take care to +get the scoundrels punished in an exemplary manner that very day. But +these were too inconsiderable victims to atone for such an affront, and +were therefore rejected with indignation. The blood of Bourbon only +could make amends for the injury done to that of Lorraine. These were +the very words of Madame de Chevreuse. They resolved at last upon this +expedition,--to go again next morning to the House, but so well +accompanied as to be in a condition of making themselves respected, and +of giving the Prince de Conti to understand that it was to his interest +to keep his party for the future from committing the like insolence. +Montresor, who happened to be with us, did all he could to convince the +ladies how dangerous it was to make a private quarrel of a public one, +especially at a time when a Prince of the blood might possibly lose his +life in the fray. When he found that he could not prevail upon them, he +used all means to persuade me to put off my resentment, for which end he +drew me aside to tell me what joy and triumph it would be to my enemies +to suffer myself to be captivated or led away by the violence of the +ladies' passion. I made him the following answer: "I am certainly to +blame, both with regard to my profession and on account of my having my +hands full, to be so far engaged with Mademoiselle de Chevreuse; but, +considering the obligation I am under to her, and that it is too late to +recede from it, I am in the right in demanding satisfaction in this +present juncture. I will not by any means assassinate the Prince de +Conti; but she may command me to do anything except poisoning or +assassinating, and therefore speak no more to me on this head." + +The ladies went again, therefore, next day, being accompanied by four +hundred gentlemen and above four thousand of the most substantial +burghers. The rabble that was hired to make a clamour in the Great Hall +sneaked out of sight, and the Prince de Conti, who had not been apprised +of this assembly, which was formed with great secrecy, was fain to pass +by Madame and Mademoiselle de Chevreuse with demonstrations of the +profoundest respect, and to suffer Maillard, who was caught on the stairs +of the chapel, to be soundly cudgelled. + +I return to the issue of the remonstrances. The Queen told the deputies +that she would next morning send to the House a declaration against +Cardinal Mazarin. + +On the 21st the Prince de Conde came to Parliament accompanied by M. de +La Rochefoucault and fifty or sixty gentlemen, and congratulated them +upon the removal of the ministers, but said that it could not be +effectual without inserting an article in the declaration which the Queen +had promised to send to the Parliament. The First President said that it +would be both unjust and inconsistent with the respect due to the Queen +to demand new conditions of her every day; that her Majesty's promise, of +which she had made the Parliament a depositary, was a sufficient +security; that it was to be wished that the Prince had shown a due +confidence therein by repairing to the Palais Royal rather than to a +court of justice; and that the post he was in obliged him to express his +surprise at such conduct. The Prince replied that the First President +had no reason to wonder at his great precautions, since he (the Prince) +knew by recent woeful experience what it was to live in a prison; and +that it was notorious that the Cardinal ruled now in the Cabinet more +absolutely than ever he did before. + +The Duc d'Orleans, who was gone to Limours on pretence of taking the air, +though on purpose to be absent from Parliament, being informed that the +very women cried at the King's coach "No Mazarin!" and that the Prince de +Conde, as well attended as his Majesty, had met the King in the park, was +so frightened that he returned to Paris, and on the 2d of August went to +Parliament, where I appeared with all my friends and a great number of +wealthy citizens. The First President mightily extolled the Queen's +goodness in making the Parliament the depositary of her promise for the +security of the Prince, who, being there present, was asked by the First +President if he had waited on the King? The Prince said he had not, +because he knew there would be danger in it, having been well informed +that secret conferences had been held to arrest him, and that in a proper +time and place he would name the authors. The Prince added that +messengers were continually going and coming betwixt the Court and +Mazarin at Breule, and that Marechal d'Aumont had orders to cut to pieces +the regiments of Conde, Conti, and Enghien, which was the only reason +that had hindered them from joining the King's army. + +The First President told him that he was sorry to see him there before he +had waited on the King, and that it seemed as if he were for setting up +altar against altar. This nettled the Prince to that degree that he said +that those who talked against him had only self-interests in view. The +First President denied that he had any such aim, and said that he was +accountable to the King only for his actions. Then he exaggerated the +danger of the State from the unhappy division of the royal family. + +Finally it was resolved, 'nemine contradicente', that the +Solicitor-General should be commissioned to prosecute those who had +advised the arrest of the Prince de Conde; that the Queen's promise for +the safety of the Prince should be registered; that his Royal Highness +should be desired by the whole assembly to go and wait on the King; and +that the decrees passed against the servitors of Mazarin should be put +into execution. The Prince, who seemed very well satisfied, said that +nothing less than this could assure him of his safety. The Duc d'Orleans +carried him to the King and the Queen, from whom he met with but a cold +reception. + +At the close of this session the declaration against the Cardinal was +read and sent back to the Chancellor, because it was not inserted that +the Cardinal had hindered the Peace of Munster, and advised the King to +undertake the journey and siege of Bordeaux, contrary to the opinion of +the Duc d'Orleans. + +The Queen, provoked by the conduct of the Prince de Conde, who rode +through the streets of Paris better attended than the King, and also by +that of the Duke, whom she found continually given to change, resolved, +in a fit of despair, to hazard all at once. M. de Chateauneuf flattered +her inclination on that point, and she was confirmed in it by a fiery +despatch from Mazarin at Bruele. She told the Duc d'Orleans plainly that +she could no longer continue in her present condition, demanded his +express declaration for or against her, and charged me, in his presence, +to keep the promise I had made her, to declare openly against the Prince +if he continued to go on as he had begun. + +Her Majesty was convinced that I acted sincerely for her service, and +that I made no scruple to keep my promise; and she condescended to make +apologies for the distrust she had entertained of my conduct, and for the +injustice she owned she had done me. + +On the 19th, the Prince de Conde having taxed me with being the author of +a paper against him, which was read that day in the House, said he had a +paper, signed by the Duc d'Orleans, which contained his justification, +and that he should be much obliged to the Parliament if they would be +pleased to desire her Majesty to name his accusers, against whom he +demanded justice. As to the paper of which he charged me with being the +author, he said it was a composition worthy of a man who had advised the +arming of the Parisians and the wresting of the seals from him with whom +the Queen had entrusted them. + +The Prince de Conti was observed to press his brother to resent what I +said in my defence, but he kept his temper; for though I was very well +accompanied, yet he was considerably superior to me in numbers, so that +if the sword had been drawn he must have had the advantage. But I +resolved to appear there the next day with a greater retinue. The Queen +was transported with joy to hear that there were men who had the +resolution to dispute the wall with the Prince. + +["The Queen," says M. de La Rochefoucault in his Memoirs, "was overjoyed +to see two men at variance whom in her heart she hated almost equally.... +Nevertheless, she seemed to protect the Coadjutor."] + +She ordered thirty gendarmes and as many Light-horse to be posted where I +pleased; I had forty men sent me, picked out of the sergeants and bravest +soldiers of one of the regiments of Guards, and some of the officers of +the city companies, and assembled a great number of substantial burghers, +all of whom had pistols and daggers under their cloaks. I also sent many +of my men to the eating-houses thereabouts, so that the Great Hall was, +as it were, invested on every side with my friends. I posted thirty +gentlemen as a reserve in a convenient chamber, who, in case of an +attack, were to assault the party of the Prince in flank and rear. I had +also laid up a store of grenades. In a word, my measures were so nicely +concerted, both within and without the Parliament House, that Pont +Notre-Dame and Pont Saint Michel, who were passionately in my interest, +only waited for the signal; so that in all likelihood I could not fail of +being conqueror. + +On the morning of the 21st all the Prince de Conde's humble servants +repaired to his house, and my friends did the like to mine, particularly +the Marquises of Rouillac and Camillac, famous both for their courage and +extravagances. As soon as the latter saw Rouillac, he made me a low bow +in a withdrawing posture, saying, "Monsieur, I came to offer you my +service, but it is not reasonable that the two greatest fools in the +kingdom should be of the same side." The Prince came to the House with a +numerous attendance, and though I believe he had not so many as I, he had +more persons of quality, for I had only the Fronde nobility on my side, +except three or four who, though in the Queen's interest, were +nevertheless my particular friends; this disadvantage, however, was +abundantly made up by the great interest I had among the people and the +advantageous posts I was possessed of. After the Prince had taken his +place, he said that he was surprised to see the Parliament House look +more like a camp than a temple of justice; that there were posts taken, +and men under command; and that he hoped there were not men in the +kingdom so insolent as to dispute the precedence with him. Whereupon I +humbly begged his pardon, and told him that I believed there was not a +man in France so insolent as to do it; but that there were some who could +not, nor indeed ought not, on account of their dignity, yield the +precedence to any man but the King. The Prince replied that he would +make me yield it to him. I told him he would find it no easy matter. +Upon this there was a great outcry, and the young councillors of both +parties interested themselves in the contest, which, you see, began +pretty warmly. The Presidents interposed between us, conjuring him to +have some regard to the temple of justice and the safety of the city, and +desiring that all the nobility and others in the hall that were armed +might be turned out. He approved of it, and bade M. de La Rochefoucault +go and tell his friends so from him. Upon which I said, "I will order my +friends to withdraw also." Young D'Avaux, now President de Mesmes, then +in the Prince's interest, said, "What! monsieur, are you +armed?"--"Without doubt," I said; though I had better have held my +tongue, because an inferior ought to be respectful in words to his +superior, though he may equal him in actions. Neither is it allowable in +a Churchman when armed to confess it. There are some things wherein men +are willing to be deceived. Actions very often vindicate men's +reputations in what they do against the dignity of their profession, but +nothing can justify words that are inconsistent with their character. + +As I had desired my friends to withdraw, and was entering into the Court +of Judicature, I heard an uproar in the hall of people crying out "To +arms!" I had a mind to go back to see what was the matter; but I had not +time to do it, for I found myself caught by the neck between the folding +doors, which M. de La Rochefoucault had shut on me, crying out to MM. +Coligny and Ricousse to kill me. + +[This action is very much disguised and softened in the Memoirs of +Rochefoucault. M. Joly, in his Memoirs, vol. i., p. 155, tells it almost +in... the same manner as the Cardinal de Retz.] + +The first thought he was not in earnest, and the other told him he had no +such order from the Prince. M. Champlatreux, running into the hall and +seeing me in that condition, vigorously pushed back M. de La +Rochefoucault, telling him that a murder of that nature was horrible and +scandalous. He opened the door and let me in. But this was not the +greatest danger I was in, as you will see after I have told you the +beginning and end of it. + +Two or three of the Prince de Conde's mob cried out, as soon as they saw +me, "A Mazarin!" Two of the Prince's soldiers drew their swords, those +next to them cried out, "To your arms!" and in a trice all were in a +fighting posture. My friends drew their swords, daggers, and pistols, +and yet, as it were by a miracle, they stopped their hands on a sudden +from action; for in that very instant of time, Crenan, one of my old +friends, who commanded a company of the Prince de Conti's gendarmes, said +to Laigues, "What are we doing? Must we let the Prince de Conde and the +Coadjutor be murdered? Whoever does not put up his sword is a rascal!" +This expression coming from a man of great courage and reputation, every +one did as he bade them. Nor is Argenteuil's courage and presence of +mind to be less admired. He being near me when I was caught by the neck +between the folding doors, and observing one Peche,--[Joly calls him "The +great clamourer of the Prince." See his Memoirs, p. 157.]--a brawling +fellow of the Prince's party, looking for me with a dagger in his hand, +screened me with his cloak, and thereby saved my life, which was in the +more danger because my friends, who supposed I was gone into the Great +Chamber, stayed behind to engage with the Prince de Conde's party. The +Prince told me since that it was well I kept on the defensive, and that +had the noise in the hall continued but a minute longer, he would himself +have taken me by the throat and made me pay for all; but I am fully +persuaded that the consequences would have been fatal to both parties, +and that he himself had had a narrow escape. + +As soon as I reentered the Great Chamber I told the First President that +I owed my life to his son, who on that occasion did the most generous +action that a man of honour was capable of, because he was passionately +attached to the Prince de Conde, and was persuaded, though without a +cause, that I was concerned in above twenty editions against his father +during the siege of Paris. There are few actions more heroic than this, +the memory of which I shall carry to my grave. I also added that M. de +La Rochefoucault had done all he could to murder me.' + +[The Duke answered, as he says himself in his Memoirs, that fear had +disturbed his judgment, etc. See in the Memoirs of M. de La +Rochefoucault, the relation of what passed after the confinement of the +Princes.] + +He answered me these very words: "Thou traitor, I don't care what becomes +of thee." I replied, "Very well, Friend Franchise" (we gave him that +nickname in our party); "you are a coward" (I told a lie, for he was +certainly a brave man), "and I am a priest; but dueling is not allowed +us." M. de Brissac threatened to cudgel him, and he to kick Brissac. The +President, fearing these words would end in blows, got between us. The +First President conjured the Prince pathetically, by the blood of Saint +Louis, not to defile with blood that temple which he had given for the +preservation of peace and the protection of justice; and exhorted me, by +my sacred character, not to contribute to the massacre of the people whom +God had committed to my charge. Both the Prince and I sent out two +gentlemen to order our friends and servants to retire by different ways. +The clock struck ten, the House rose, and thus ended that morning's work, +which was likely to have ruined Paris. + +You may easily guess what a commotion Paris was in all that morning. +Tradesmen worked in their shops with their muskets by them, and the women +were at prayers in the churches. Sadness sat on the brows of all who +were not actually engaged in either party. The Prince, if we may believe +the Comte de Fiesque, told him that Paris narrowly escaped being burnt +that day. "What a fine bonfire this would have been for the Cardinal," +said he; "especially to see it lighted by the two greatest enemies he +had!" + +The Duc d'Orleans, quite tired out with the cries of the people, who ran +affrighted to his palace, and fearing that the commotion would not stop +at the Parliament House, made the Prince promise that he would not go +next day to the Parliament with above five in company, provided I would +engage to carry no more. I begged his Royal Highness to excuse me if I +did not comply, because I should be wanting in my respect to the Prince, +with whom I ought not to make any comparison, and because I should be +still exposed to a pack of seditious brawlers, who cried out against me, +having no laws nor owning any chief. I added that it was only against +this sort of people that I armed; that there was so little comparison +between a private gentleman and his Highness that five hundred men were +less to the Prince than a single lackey to me. The Duke, who owned I was +in the right, went to the Queen to represent to her the evil consequences +that would inevitably attend such measures. + +The Queen, who neither feared nor foresaw dangers, made no account of his +remonstrances, for she was glad in the main of the dangers which seemed +to be so near at hand. When Bertet and Brachet, who crept up to the +garrets of the Palais Royal for fear of having their throats cut in the +general commotion, had made her sensible that if the Prince and myself +should perish in such a juncture it would occasion such a confusion that +the very name of Mazarin might become fatal to the royal family, she +yielded rather to her fears than to her convictions, and consented to +send an order in the King's name to forbid both the Prince and me to go +to the House. The First President, who was well assured that the Prince +would not obey an order of that nature, which could not be forced upon +him with justice, because his presence was necessary in the Parliament, +went to the Queen and made her sensible that it would be against all +justice and equity to forbid the Prince to be present in an assembly +where he went only to clear himself from a crime laid to his charge. He +showed her the difference between the first Prince of the blood, whose +presence would be necessary in that conjuncture, and a Coadjutor of +Paris, who never had a seat in the Parliament but by courtesy. + +The Queen yielded at last to these reasons and to the entreaties of all +the Court ladies, who dreaded the noise and confusion which was likely to +occur next day in the Parliament House. + +The Parliament met next day, and resolved that all the papers, both of +the Queen, the Duc d'Orleans, and the Prince de Conde, should be carried +to the King and Queen, that her Majesty should be humbly entreated to +terminate the affair, and that the Duc d'Orleans should be desired to +make overtures towards a reconciliation. + +As the Prince was coming out of the Parliament House, attended by a +multitude of his friends, I met him in his coach as I was at the head of +a procession of thirty or forty cures of Paris, followed by a great +number of people. Upon my approach, three or four of the mob following +the Prince cried out, "A Mazarin!" but the Prince alighted and silenced +them. + +[M. de La Rochefoucault, in his Memoirs, says that the people abused the +Coadjutor with scurrilous language, and would have torn him in pieces if +the prince had not ordered his men to appease the tumult.] + +He then fell on his knees to receive my blessing, which I gave him with +my hat on, and then pulled it off in obeisance. + +The Queen was so well pleased with my prudent conduct that I can truly +say I was a favourite for some days. Madame de Carignan was telling her +one day that I was very homely, to which the Queen replied, "He has a +very fine set of teeth, and a man cannot be called homely who has this +ornament." Madame de Chevreuse remembered that she had often heard the +Queen say that the beauty of a man consisted chiefly in his teeth, +because it was the only beauty which was of any use. Therefore she +advised me to act my part well, and she should not despair of success. +"When you are with the Queen," said she, "be serious; look continually on +her hands, storm against the Cardinal, and I will take care of the rest" +I asked two or three audiences of the Queen upon very trifling occasions, +followed Madame de Chevreuse's plan very closely, and carried my +resentment and passion against the Cardinal even to extravagance. The +Queen, who was naturally a coquette, understood those airs, and +acquainted Madame de Chevreuse therewith, who pretended to be surprised, +saying, "Indeed, I have heard the Coadjutor talk of your Majesty whole +days with delight; but if the conversation happened to touch upon the +Cardinal, he was no longer the same man, and even raved against your +Majesty, but immediately relented towards you, though never towards the +Cardinal." + +Madame de Chevreuse, who was the Queen's confidante in her youth, gave me +such a history of her early days as I cannot omit giving you, though I +should have done it sooner. She told me that the Queen was neither in +body nor mind truly Spanish; that she had neither the temperament nor the +vivacity of her nation, but only the coquetry of it, which she retained +in perfection; that M. Bellegarde, a gallant old gentleman, after the +fashion of the Court of Henri III., pleased her till he was going to the +army, when he begged for one favour before his departure, which was only +to put her hand to the hilt of his sword, a compliment so insipid that +her Majesty was out of conceit with him ever after. She approved the +gallant manner of M. de Montmorency much more than she loved his person. +The aversion she had to the pedantic behaviour of Cardinal de Richelieu, +who in his amours was as ridiculous as he was in other things excellent, +made her irreconcilable to his addresses. She had observed from the +beginning of the Regency a great inclination in the Queen for Mazarin, +but that she had not been able to discover how far that inclination went, +because she (Madame de Chevreuse) had been banished from the Court very +soon after; and that upon her return to France, after the siege of Paris, +the Queen was so reserved at first with her that it was impossible for +her to dive into her secrets. That since she regained her Majesty's +favour she had sometimes observed the same airs in her with regard to +Cardinal Mazarin as she used to display formerly in favour of the Duke of +Buckingham; but at other times she thought that there was no more between +them than a league of friendship. The chief ground for her conjecture +was the impolite and almost rude way in which the Cardinal conversed with +her Majesty. "But, however," said Madame de Chevreuse, "when I reflect +on the Queen's humour, all this may admit of another interpretation. +Buckingham used to tell me that he had been in love with three Queens, +and was obliged to curb all the three; therefore I cannot tell what to +think of the matter." + +To resume the history of more public affairs. I did not so far please +myself with the figure I made against the Prince (though I thought it +very much for my honour), but I saw clearly that I stood on a dangerous +precipice. + +"Whither are we going?" I said to M. Bellievre, who seemed to be +overjoyed that the Prince had not been able to devour me; "for whom do we +labour? I know that we are obliged to act as we do; I know, too, that we +cannot do better; but should we rejoice at the fatal necessity which +pushes us on to exert an action comparatively good and which will +unavoidably end in a superlative evil?" + +"I understand you," said the President, "and will interrupt you for one +moment to tell you what I learned of Cromwell" (whom he had known in +England). "He told me one day that it is then we are mounting highest +when we ourselves do not know whither we are going." + +"You know, monsieur," said I to Bellievre, "that I abhor Cromwell; and +whatever is commonly reported of his great parts, if he is of this +opinion, I must pronounce him a fool." + +I mentioned this dialogue for no other purpose than to observe how +dangerous it is to talk disrespectfully of men in high positions; for it +was carried to Cromwell, who remembered it with a great deal of +resentment on an occasion which I shall mention hereafter, and said to M. +de Bourdeaux, Ambassador of France, then in England, "I know but one man +in the world who despises me, and that is Cardinal de Retz." This +opinion of him was likely to have cost me very dear. I return from this +digression. + +On the 31st, Melayer, valet de chambre to the Cardinal, arrived with a +despatch to the Queen, in which were these words: "Give the Prince de +Conde all the declarations of his innocence that he can desire, provided +you can but amuse him and hinder him from giving you the slip." + +On the 4th the Prince de Conde insisted in Parliament on a formal decree +for declaring his innocence, which was granted, but deferred to be +published till the 7th of September (the day that the King came of age), +on pretence of rendering it more authentic and solemn by the King's +presence, but really to gain time, and see what influence the splendour +of royalty, which was to be clothed that day with all the advantages of +pomp, would have upon the minds of the people. + +But the Prince de Conde, who had reason to distrust both the Fronde and +the Court, did not appear at the ceremony, and sent the Prince de Conti +to the King to desire to be excused, because the calumnies and +treacheries of his enemies would not suffer him to come to the Palace; +adding that he kept away out of pure respect to his Majesty. This last +expression, which seemed to intimate that otherwise he might have gone +thither without danger, provoked the Queen to that degree that she said, +"The Prince or I must perish." + +The Prince de Conde retired to Bourges,--further from Court. He was +naturally averse to a civil war, nor would his adherents have been more +forward than himself if they had found their interests in his +reconciliation to the Court; but this seemed impracticable, and therefore +they agreed upon a civil war, because none of them believed themselves +powerful enough to conclude a peace. They know nothing of the nature of +faction who imagine the head of a party to be their master. His true +interest is most commonly thwarted by the imaginary interests even of his +subalterns, and the worst of it is that his own honour sometimes, and +generally prudence, joins with them against himself. The passions and +discontent which reigned then among the friends of the Prince de Conde +ran so high that they were obliged to abandon him and form a third party, +under the authority of the Prince de Conti, in case the Prince +accomplished his reconciliation to the Court, according to a proposition +then made to him in the name of the Duc d'Orleans. The subdivision of +parties is generally the ruin of all, especially when it is introduced by +cunning views, directly contrary to prudence; and this is what the +Italians call, in comedy, a "plot within a plot," or a "wheel within a +wheel." + + + + +BOOK IV. + + +In December, 1651, the Parliament agreed to the following resolution: To +send a deputation to the King to inform him of the rumours of Mazarin's +return, and to beseech him to confirm the royal promise which he had made +to his people upon that head; to forbid all governors to give the +Cardinal passage; to desire the King to acquaint the Pope and other +Princes with the reasons that had obliged him to remove the Cardinal; and +to send to all the Parliaments of the kingdom to make the like decree. + +Somebody making a motion that a price might be set upon the Cardinal's +head, I and the rest of the spiritual councillors retired, because +clergymen are forbidden by the canon law to give their vote in cases of +life and death. + +They agreed also to send deputies to the King to entreat him to write to +the Elector of Cologne to send the Cardinal out of his country, and to +forbid the magistrates of all cities to entertain any troops sent to +favour his return or any of his kindred or domestics. A certain +councillor who said, very judiciously, that the soldiers assembling for +Mazarin upon the frontiers would laugh at all the decrees of Parliament +unless they were proclaimed to them by good musketeers and pikemen, was +run down as if he had talked nonsense, and all the clamour was that it +belonged only to the King to disband soldiers. + +The Duc d'Orleans acquainted the House, on the 29th, that Cardinal +Mazarin had arrived at Sedan; that Marechals de Hoquincourt and de la +Ferte were gone to join him with their army to bring him to Court; and +that it was high time to oppose his designs. Upon this it was +immediately resolved that deputies should be despatched forthwith to the +King; that the Cardinal and all his adherents should be declared guilty +of high treason; that the common people should be commanded to treat them +as such wherever they met them; that his library and all his household +goods should be sold, and that 150,000 livres premium should be given to +any man who should deliver up the said Cardinal, either dead or alive. +Upon this expression all the ecclesiastics retired, for the reason above +mentioned. + +A new decree was passed on the 2d of January, 1652, wherein it was +decided that all the Parliaments of France should be invited to issue +their decrees against Mazarin, conformable to the last; that two more +councillors should be added to the four sent to guard the rivers and to +arm the common people; and that the troops of the Duc d'Orleans should +oppose the march of Mazarin. + +On the 24th the deputies who had been to Poitiers to remonstrate with the +King against the return of the Cardinal, made their report in Parliament, +to the effect that his Majesty, after having consulted with the Queen and +her Council, returned for answer, that without doubt, when the Parliament +issued their late decrees, they did not know that Cardinal Mazarin had +made no levy of soldiers but by his Majesty's express orders; that it was +he who commanded him to enter France with his troops, and that therefore +the King did not resent what the company had done; but that, on the other +hand, he did not doubt that when they had heard the circumstances he had +just mentioned, and knew, moreover, that Cardinal Mazarin only desired an +opportunity to justify himself, they would not fail to give all his +subjects an exemplary proof of the obedience they owed to him. The +Parliament was highly provoked, and next day resolved to admit no more +dukes, peers, nor marshals of France till the Cardinal had left the +kingdom. + +Mazarin, arriving at Court again, persuaded the King to go to Saumur, +though others advised him to march to Guienne against the Prince de +Conde, with whom the Duc d'Orleans was now resolved to join forces. The +King went from Saumur to Tours, where the Archbishop of Rouen carried +complaints to the King, in the name of the bishops there, against the +decrees of Parliament relating to the Cardinal. + +The Duc d'Orleans complained in Parliament against the inconsistency of +their proceedings, and said the King had sent him carte blanche in order +to oblige him to consent to the restoration of the Cardinal, but that +nothing would ever cause him to do it, nor to act apart from the +Parliament. Yet their unaccountable proceedings perplexed him beyond +expression, so that he commanded, or rather permitted, M. de Beaufort to +put his troops in action. And because I told him that, considering the +declarations he had so often repeated against Mazarin, I thought his +conduct in setting his troops in motion against him did not add so much +to the measure of the disgust he had already given to the Court that he +need to apprehend much from it, he gave me for answer these memorable +words which I have reflected upon a thousand times: "If you," said he, +"had been born a Son of France, an Infante of Spain, a King of Hungary, +or a Prince of Pales, you would not talk as you do. You must know that, +with us Princes, words go for nothing, but that we never forget actions. +By to-morrow noon the Queen would not remember my declarations against +the Cardinal if I would admit him tomorrow morning; but if my troops were +to fire a musket she would not forgive me though we were to live two +thousand years hence." + +In February, 1652, I was made a cardinal, and was to receive the hat, as +all French cardinals do, from the King. My enemies, who thought to ruin +my credit with the Duc d'Orleans, gave out that I had been obliged to the +Court for my dignity, attacked me in form as a secret favourer of +Mazarin, and, while their emissaries gained over such of the dregs of the +people as they could corrupt by money, they were supported by all the +intrigues of the Cabinet. But the Duke, who knew better, only laughed at +them; so that they confirmed me in his good opinion, instead of +supplanting me, because in cases of slander every reflection that does +not hurt the person attacked does him service. I said to the Duke that I +wondered he was not wearied out with the silly stories that were told him +every day against me, since they all harped upon one string; but he said, +"Do you take no account of the pleasure one takes every morning in +hearing how wicked men are under the cloak of religious zeal, and every +night how silly they are under the mask of politicians?" + +The servants of the Prince de Conde gave out such stories against me +among the populace as were likely to have done me much more mischief. +They had a pack of brawling fellows in their pay who were more +troublesome to me now than formerly, when they did not dare to appear +before the numerous retinue of gentlemen and liverymen that accompanied +me, for as I had not yet had the hat, I was obliged, wherever I went, to +go incognito, according to the rules of the ceremonial. Those fellows +said that I had betrayed the Duc d'Orleans, and that they would be the +death of me. I told the Duke, who was afraid they would murder me, that +he should soon see how little those hired mobs ought to be regarded. He +offered me his guards, but though Marechal d'Estampes fell on his knees +in my way to stop me, I went down-stairs with only two persons in +company, and made directly towards the ruffians, demanding who was their +leader. Upon which a beggarly fellow, with an old yellow feather in his +hat, answered me, insolently, "I am." Then I called out to the guards at +the gate, saying, "Let me have this rascal hanged up at these grates." +Thereupon he made me a very low bow, and said that he did not mean to +affront me; that he only came with his comrades to tell me of the report +that I designed to carry the Duc d'Orleans to Court, and reconcile him +with Mazarin; that they did not believe it; that they were at my service, +and ready to venture their lives for me, provided I would but promise +them to be always an honest Frondeur. + +The Duc d'Orleans took such delight in conversing with me that, on De +Goulas, one of his secretaries, telling him that all the foreign officers +took mighty umbrage at it, he pulled him up very sharply, and said, "Go +to the devil, you and your foreign officers. If they were as good +Frondeurs as Cardinal de Retz, they would be at their posts, and not +tippling in the taverns of Paris." There was such a strong faction in +the city of Orleans for the Court that his presence there was very +necessary; but as it was much more so at Paris, the Duke was prevailed +upon by his Duchess to let her go thither. M. Patru was pleased to say +that as the gates of Jericho fell at the sound of trumpets, those of +Orleans would open at the sound of fiddles, of which M. de Rohan was a +very great admirer. But, in fact, though the King was just at hand with +the troops, and though M. Mold, Keeper of the Seals, was at the gate +demanding entrance for the King, the Duchess crossed the river in a +barge, made the watermen break down a little postern, which had been +walled up for a long time, and marched, with the acclamations of +multitudes of the people, directly to the Hotel de Ville, where the +magistrates were assembled to consider if they should admit the Keeper of +the Seals. By this means she turned the scale, and MM. de Beaufort and +de Nemours joined her. + +The Prince de Conde arriving at Paris from Guienne on the 11th of April, +the magistrates had a meeting in the Hotel de Ville, in which they +resolved that the Governor should wait on his Royal Highness, and tell +him that the company thought it contrary to order to receive him into the +city before he had cleared himself from the King's declaration, which had +been verified in Parliament against him. + +The Duc d'Orleans, who was overjoyed at this speech, said that the Prince +had only come to discourse with him about private affairs, and that he +would stay but twenty-four hours at Paris. M. de Chavigni informed the +Duke that the Prince was able to stand his ground as long as he pleased, +without being obliged to anybody; and he gathered together a mob of +scoundrels upon the Pont-Neuf, whose fingers itched to be plundering the +house of M. du Plessis Guenegaut, and by whom the Duke was frightened to +a great degree. + +The reflections I had leisure to make upon my new dignity obliged me to +take great care of my hat, whose dazzling flame of colour turns the heads +of many that are honoured with it. The most palpable of those delusions +is the claiming precedence of Princes of the blood, who may become our +masters the next moment, and who at the same time are generally the +masters of all our kindred. I have a veneration for the cardinals of my +family, who made me suck in humility after their example with my mother's +milk, and I found a very happy opportunity to practise it on the very day +that I received the news of my promotion. Chateaubriant said to me, +before a vast number of people at my levee, "Now we will pay our respects +no more to the best of them," which he said because, though I was upon +ill terms with the Prince de Conde, and though I always went well +attended, I yet saluted him wherever I met him with all the respect due +to him on the score of so many titles. I said to him: + +"Pray pardon me, monsieur; we shall pay our respects to the great men +with greater complaisance than ever. God forbid that the red hat should +turn my head to that degree as to make me dispute precedence with the +Princes of the blood. It is honour enough for a gentleman to walk side +by side with them." This expression, I verily believe, afterwards +secured the rank of precedence to the hat in the kingdom of France, by +the courtesy of the Prince de Conde, and his friendship for me. + +Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, the most fantastical lady upon earth, +suspecting that I held a secret correspondence with the Queen, could not +forbear murmuring and threatening what she would do. She said I had +declared to her a thousand times that I could not imagine how it was +possible for anybody to be in love with that Swiss woman. In short, she +said this so often that the Queen had a notion from somebody or other +that I had called her by that name. She never forgave me for it, as you +will perceive in the sequel. You may easily conceive that this +circumstance, which gave me no encouragement to hope for a very gracious +reception at Court for the time to come, did not weaken those resolutions +which I had already taken to retire from public business. The place of +my retreat was agreeable enough: the shadow of the towers of Notre-Dame +was a refreshment to it; and, moreover, the Cardinal's hat sheltered it +from bad weather. I had fine ideas of the sweetness of such a +retirement, and I would gladly have laid hold of it, but my stars would +not have it so. I return to my narrative. + +On the 12th of April the Duc d'Orleans took the Prince de Conde with him +to the Parliament, assuring them that he had not, nor ever would have, +any other intention than to serve his King and country; that he would +always follow the sentiments of the Parliament; and that he was willing +to lay down his arms as soon as the decrees against Cardinal Mazarin were +put into execution. + +The President Bailleul said that the members always thought it an honour +to see the Prince de Conde in his place, but that they could not +dissemble their real concern to see his hands stained with the blood of +the King's soldiers who were killed at Bleneau. Upon this a storm arose +from the benches, which fell with such fury upon the poor President that +he had scarcely room to put in a word for himself, for fifty or sixty +voices disowned him at one volley. + +On the 13th the Parliament agreed that the declaration made by the Duc +d'Orleans and the Prince should be carried to the King; that the +remonstrances they had sent to the King should likewise be sent to all +the sovereign companies of Paris, and to all the Parliaments of the +kingdom, to invite them also to send a deputation on their own behalf; +and that a general assembly should be immediately held at the Hotel de +Ville, to which the Duc d'Orleans and the Prince should be invited to +make the same declarations as they made to the Parliament; and that, in +the meantime, the King's declaration against Cardinal Mazarin, and all +the decrees passed against him, should be put into execution. + +On the 13th of May a councillor of Parliament and captain of his ward, +having brought his company to the Palace to act as ordinary guard, was +abandoned by all the burghers that composed it, who said they were not +created to guard Mazarins. + +The mob, who at the same time appeared ready enough to murder some of the +magistrates in the streets, had nothing in their mouths but the names and +services of the Princes, who next day disowned their humble servants in +the assemblies of the several courts. Though this conduct gave occasion +to severe decrees, which the Parliament issued at every turn against the +seditious, it did not hinder the same Parliament from believing that +those who disowned the sedition were the authors of it, and consequently +did not lessen the hatred which many private men conceived against them. +Such were the various and complicated views every one had concerning the +then position of affairs, that I wrapped myself up, as one may say, in my +great dignities, to which I abandoned the hopes of my fortune; and I +remember one day the President Bellievre telling me that I ought not to +be so indolent. I answered him: "We are in a great storm, where, +methinks, we all row against the wind. I have two good oars in my hand, +one of which is the Cardinal's dignity, and the other the Archiepiscopal. +I am not willing to break them; and all I have to do now is to support +myself." + +At the same time I had other disquietings of a more private nature. +Mademoiselle de Chevreuse fell in love with my rival, the Abbe Fouquet. +Little De Roye, who was a very, pretty German lass at her house, informed +me of it, and made me amends for the infidelity of the mistress, whose +choice, to tell you the truth, did not mortify me much, because she had +nothing but beauty, which cloys when it comes alone. She cared for +nobody besides him she loved; but as she was never long in love, so +neither was it long that she was in good temper. She used her cast-off +lovers as she did her old clothes, which other women lay aside, but she +burnt, so that her daughters had much ado to save a petticoat, +head-dress, gloves, or Venice point. And I verily believe that if she +could have committed her lovers to the flames when she left them off, she +would have done it with all her heart. Madame her mother, who +endeavoured to set her at variance with me when she was resolved to unite +herself entirely with the Court, could not succeed, though she went so +far that Madame de Guemenee caused a letter to be read to her in my +handwriting, whereby I devoted myself body and soul to her, as witches +give themselves to the devil. + +It was at that time that Madame de Chevreuse, seeing herself neglected at +Paris, resolved to retire to Dampierre, where, depending upon what had +been told her from Court, she hoped to be well received. I gave vent to +my passion, which, in truth, was not very great, to Mademoiselle de +Chevreuse, and I took care to have both the mother and daughter +accompanied out of Paris, quite to Dampierre, by all the nobility and +gentlemen I had with me. + +I cannot finish this slight sketch of the condition I was in at Paris +without acknowledging the debt I owe to the generosity of the Prince de +Conde, who, finding that a person was come from the Prince de Conti, at +Bordeaux, with a design to attack me, told him that he would have him +hanged if he did not go back to his master in two hours' time. + +Marigny told me, almost at the same time, that, observing the Prince de +Conde to be very intent upon reading a book, he took the liberty to tell +him that it must needs be a very choice one, because he took such delight +in it; and that the Prince answered him, "It is true I am very fond of +it, for it shows me my faults, which nobody has the courage to tell me." +This book was entitled "The Right and False Steps of the Prince de Conde +and of the Cardinal de Retz." + +There were divers negotiations between the parties, during which Mazarin +gave himself the pleasure of letting the public see MM. de Rohan, de +Chavigni, and de Goulas conferring with him, before the King as well as +in private, at that very instant when the Duc d'Orleans and the Prince de +Conde said publicly, in the assembly of the Chambers, that it ought to be +the preliminary of all treaties to have nothing to do with Mazarin. He +acted a perfect comedy in their presence, pretending to be forcibly +detained by the King, whom he begged with folded hands to let him return +to Italy. + +On the 30th of April there was so great a murmuring in Parliament that +the Duc d'Orleans said they should never see him there again until the +Cardinal was gone. + +On the 6th of May the remonstrances of the Parliament and the Chamber of +Accounts were carried to the King by a large deputation, as were, on the +7th, those of the Court of Aids and the city. The King's answer to both +was that he would cause his troops to retire when those of the Princes +were gone. + +On the 10th it was resolved that the King's Council should be sent to +Saint Germain for a further answer touching the removal of Cardinal +Mazarin from the Court and kingdom, and the armies from the neighbourhood +of Paris. + +On the 14th there was a great uproar again in the Parliament, where there +was a confused clamour for taking into consideration the best means for +hindering the riots and disorders daily committed in the city and in the +hall of the Palace; upon which the Duc d'Orleans, who was afraid that +under this pretence the Mazarinists should make the House take some steps +contrary to their interests, came to the Palace on a sudden, and proposed +that they should grant him full power. + +The 29th being the day that the deputies of the Court of Inquiry desired +the Parliament to consider the ways and means for raising the 150,000 +livres promised to him who should bring Cardinal Mazarin to justice, and +the Archbishop's Grand Vicar coming up at that moment to the bar of the +King's Council to confer about the descent of the shrine of Sainte +Genevieve, a member said, very pleasantly, "We are this day engaged in +devotion for a double festival: we are appointing processions, and +contriving how to murder a Cardinal." + +On the 20th of June the King's answer to the Parliament's remonstrances +was reported in substance as follows: That though his Majesty was +sensible that the demand for the removal of Cardinal Mazarin was but a +pretence, yet, he was willing to grant it after justice was done to the +Cardinal's honour by such reparations as were due to his innocence, +provided the Princes would give him good security for the performance of +their proposals upon the removal of the said Cardinal. That therefore +his Majesty, desired to know: 1. Whether, in this case, they will +renounce all leagues and associations with foreign princes? 2. Whether +they will not form new pretensions? 3. Whether they will come to Court? +4. Whether they will dismiss all the foreigners that are in the kingdom? +5. Whether they will disband their forces? 6. Whether Bordeaux will +return to its duty, as well as the Prince de Conti and Madame de +Longueville? 7. Whether the places which the Prince de Conde has +fortified shall be put into the condition they were in before the breach? + +The Duc d'Orleans, provoked at these propositions, said that a Son of +France and a Prince of the blood were never known to have been treated +like common criminals, and that the declaration which both had made was +more than sufficient to satisfy the Court. + +On the 21st it was moved in Parliament that an inventory should be taken +of what remained of Mazarin's furniture. There having been in the +morning a great commotion at the Palace, when the President and some +others had run a risk of being killed by the mob, M. de Beaufort invited +his friends to meet him in the afternoon in the Palais Royal, and having +got together four or five thousand beggars, he harangued them as to the +obedience which they owed to the Parliament. But two or three days after +this fine sermon of his, the sedition was more violent than ever. + +On the 25th the Princes declared in Parliament that, as soon as the +Cardinal had departed the kingdom, they would faithfully execute all the +articles contained in the King's answer, and immediately send deputies to +complete the rest. + +On the 4th of July a mob assembled, who forced all that went by to put a +handful of straw in their hats, upon which the Duc d'Orleans and the +Prince de Conde went to the Hotel de Ville and convinced the assembly of +the necessity they were under of defending themselves against Mazarin. +Upon a trumpeter arriving from his Majesty with orders to adjourn the +assembly for a week, the people were much incensed, and called out to the +citizens to unite strictly with the Princes. They fell upon the first +thing they met in their way, threw stones into the windows of the Hotel +de Ville, set fire to its gates, and, entering with drawn swords, +murdered M. Le Gras, the Master of Requests, and the Master of Accounts, +and twenty or thirty citizens perished in the tumult. There was a +general consternation all over the city; all the shops were shut in an +instant, and in some parts they set up barricades to stop the rioters, +who had almost overrun the whole town. It was observed that the +appearance of the Duchesse de Beaufort prevailed more with the mob in +causing them to disperse than the exposing of the Host by the cure of St. +John's. + +The late riot had such an effect on the Parliament that the President +Mortier and many of the councillors kept away from the public assemblies +for fear, notwithstanding they were enjoined, by a special decree, to +come and take their places. The magistrates, for the same reason, did +not go to the Hotel de Ville. + +On the 18th the deputies of Parliament being ordered to follow the King +to Pontoise, the House passed a decree for their immediate return to +Parliament, and the Prince de Conde and the Duke de Beaufort brought them +into town with twelve hundred horse. + +The Court in the meantime passed decrees of Council, annulling those of +the Parliament and the transactions of the assembly at the Hotel de +Ville. + +On the 20th the Parliament declared by a decree that, the King being +prisoner to Cardinal Mazarin, the Duc d'Orleans should be desired to take +upon him the office of Lieutenant-General of his Majesty, and the Prince +to take upon him the command of the army as long as Mazarin should +continue in the kingdom, and that a copy of the said decree should be +sent to all the Parliaments of the kingdom, who should be desired to +publish the like; but not one complied, except that of Bordeaux. Nor was +the Duke better obeyed by the several governors of the provinces, for but +one vouchsafed him an answer when he acquainted them with his new +dignity, the Court having put them in mind of their duty by an order of +Council, published to annul that of the Parliament for establishing the +said lieutenancy; and in Paris itself the Duke's authority was despised, +for two wretches having been condemned for setting fire to the Hotel de +Ville, the citizens who were ordered to take charge of the execution +refused to obey. + +On the 24th it was ordered that a general assembly should be held at the +Hotel de Ville, to consider the ways and means to raise money for +supporting the troops, and that the statues at Mazarin's palace should be +sold to make up the sum set upon the Cardinal's head. + +On the 29th it was resolved in the Hotel de Ville to raise 800,000 livres +for augmenting his Royal Highness's troops, and to exhort all the great +towns of the kingdom to unite with the metropolis. + +On the 6th of August the King sent a declaration signifying the removal +of the Parliament to Pontoise. There was a great commotion in the House, +who agreed not to register it till the Cardinal had left the kingdom. As +for the Parliament of Pontoise, which consisted of but fourteen officers, +with three Presidents at their head, who had a little before retired in +disguise from Paris, they made remonstrances likewise to the King for +removing Cardinal Mazarin. The King granted what was desired of him, and +that upon the solicitations of that honest, disinterested minister, who +withdrew from Court to Bouillon. This comedy, so unworthy the dignity of +a king, was accompanied with circumstances that rendered it still more +ridiculous:--The two Parliaments fulminated severe decrees against one +another, and that of Paris made an order that whosoever sat in the +assembly at Pontoise should be struck off the register. + +At the same time that of Pontoise registered the King's declaration, +which contained an injunction to the Parliament of Paris, the Chamber of +Accounts, and the Court of Aids, that, since Cardinal Mazarin was +removed, they should now lay down their arms on condition that his +Majesty would grant an amnesty, remove his troops from about Paris, +withdraw those that were in Guienne, allow a free and safe passage to the +Spanish troops, and give the Princes permission to send to his Majesty +persons to confer with his ministers concerning what remained to be +adjusted. This same Parliament resolved to return their thanks to his +Majesty for removing Cardinal Mazarin, and most humbly to entreat the +King to return to his good city of Paris. + +On the 26th they also registered the King's amnesty, or royal pardon, +granted to all that had taken up arms against him, but with such +restrictions that very few could think themselves safe by it. + +The King acquainted the Duc d'Orleans that he wondered that, since +Mazarin was removed, he should delay, according to his own declaration +and promise, to lay down his arms, to renounce all associations and +treaties, and to cause the foreign troops to withdraw; and that when this +was done, those deputies that should come to his Majesty from him should +be very welcome. + +On the 3d of September the Parliament resolved that their deputies should +wait upon the King with their thanks for removing Cardinal Mazarin, and +to beseech his Majesty to return to Paris; that the Duc d'Orleans and the +Prince de Conde should be desired to write to the King and assure him +they would lay down their arms as soon as his Majesty would be pleased to +send the passports for the safe retreat of the foreigners, together with +an amnesty in due form, registered in all the Parliaments of the kingdom; +and that his Majesty should be petitioned to receive the deputies of the +Princes. + +Pray indulge me with a short pause here to consider the scandalous arts +which ministers palliate with the name and sacred word of a great King, +and with which the most august Parliament of the kingdom--the Court of +Peers--expose themselves to ridicule by such manifest inconsistencies as +are more becoming the levity of a college than the majesty of a senate. +In short, persons are not sensible of what they do in these State +paroxysms, which savour somewhat of frenzy. I knew in those days some +very honest men, who were so fully satisfied of the justice of the cause +of the Princes that, upon occasion, they would have laid down their lives +for it; and I also knew some eminently virtuous and disinterested men who +would as gladly have been martyrs for the Court. The ambition of great +men manages such dispositions just as it suits their own interests; they +help to blind the rest of mankind, and they even become blinder +themselves than other people. + +Honest M. de Fontenay, who had been twice ambassador at Rome, a man of +great experience and good sense and a hearty well-wisher to his country, +daily condoled with me on the lethargy into which the intestine divisions +had lulled the best citizens and patriots. We saw the Spanish colours +and standards displayed upon the Pont-Neuf; the yellow sashes of Lorraine +appeared at Paris with the same liberty as the Isabelles and blue ones. +People were so accustomed to these spectacles and to the news of +provinces, towns, and battles lost, that they were become insolent and +stupid. Several of my friends blamed my inactivity, and desired me to +bestir myself. They bid me save the kingdom, save the city, or else I +should fall from the greatest love to the greatest hatred of the people. +The Frondeurs suspected me of favouring Mazarin's party, and the Mazarins +thought I was too partial to the Frondeurs. + +I was touched to the quick with a pathetic speech made to me by M. de +Fontenay. "You see," said he, "that Mazarin, like a Jack-in-the-bog, +plays at Bo-peep; but you see that, whether he appears or disappears, the +wire by which the puppet is drawn on or off the stage is the royal +authority, which is not likely to be broken by the measures now on foot. +Abundance of those that appear to be his greatest opponents would be very +sorry to see him crushed; many others would be very glad to see him get +off; not one endeavours to ruin him entirely. You may get clear of the +difficulty that embarrasses you by a door which opens into a field of +honour and liberty. Paris, whose archbishop you are, groans under a +heavy load. The Parliament there is but a mere phantom, and the Hotel de +Ville a desert. The Duc d'Orleans and the Prince have no more authority +than what the rascally mob is pleased to allow them. The Spaniards, +Germans, and Lorrainers are in the suburbs laying waste the very gardens. +You that have rescued them more than once, and are their pastor, have +been forced to keep guards in your own house for three weeks. And you +know that at this day your friends are under great apprehension if they +see you in the streets without arms. Do you count it a slight thing to +put an end to all these miseries? And will you neglect the only +opportunity Providence puts a into your hands to obtain the honour of it? +Take your clergy with you to Compiegne, thank the King for removing +Mazarin, and beg his Majesty to return to Paris. Keep up a good +correspondence with those bodies who have no other design but the common +good, who are already almost all your particular friends, and who look +upon you as their head by reason of your dignity. And if the King +actually returns to the city, the people of Paris will be obliged to you +for it; if you meet with a refusal, you will have still their +acknowledgments for your good intention. If you can get the Duc +d'Orleans to join with you, you will save the realm; for I am persuaded +that if he knew how to act his part in this juncture it would be in his +power to bring the King back to Paris and to prevent Mazarin ever +returning again. You are a cardinal; you are Archbishop of Paris; you +have the good-will of the public, and are but thirty-seven years old: +Save the city, save the kingdom." + +In short, the Duc d'Orleans approved of my scheme, and ordered me to +convene a general assembly of the ecclesiastical communities, and to get +deputies chosen out of them all, and go with them to Court, there to +present the deputation, which should request the King to give peace to +his people and return to his good city of Paris. I was also to endeavour +by the aid of my friends to induce the other corporate bodies of the city +to do likewise. I was to tell the Queen that she could not but be +sensible that the Duke was in good earnest for peace, which the public +engagements he was under to oppose Mazarin had not suffered him to +conclude, or even to propose, while the Cardinal continued at Court; that +he renounced all private views and interests with relation to himself or +friends; that he desired nothing but the security of the public; and that +after he had the satisfaction of seeing the King at the Louvre he would +then with joy retire to Blois, fully resolved to live in peace and +prepare for eternity. + +I set out immediately with the deputies of all the ecclesiastical bodies +of Paris, nearly two hundred gentlemen, accompanied by fifty men of the +Duke's Guards. The number of my attendants gave such umbrage at Court, +where it was ridiculously exaggerated, that the Queen sent me word I +should only have accommodation for eighty horses, whereas I had no less +than one hundred and twelve for the coaches alone. If I had known as +much when I went as I heard after I returned, I should have hesitated +about going, for I was told that some moved for arresting me, and others +for killing me. However, the Queen received me very well; the King gave +me the cardinal's hat and a public audience. + +I told the Queen, in a private audience, that I was not come only as a +deputy from the Church of Paris, but that I had another commission which +I valued much more, because I took it to be more for her service than the +other,--that of an envoy from the Duc d'Orleans, who had charged me to +assure her Majesty that he was resolved to serve her effectually and +without delay, as he had promised by a note under his own hand, which I +then pulled out of my pocket. The Queen expressed a great deal of joy, +and said, "I knew very well, M. le Cardinal, that you would at last give +some particular marks of your affection for me." + +The Queen told me that she thanked the Duke, and was very much obliged to +him; that she hoped and desired he would contribute towards making the +necessary dispositions for the King's return to Paris, and that she would +not take one step but in concert with him. At the same time I heard that +the Queen spoke disdainfully of me, whom she dreaded, to my enemies at +Court; pretended that I had owned Mazarin was an honest man, and +ridiculed me for the expense I had put myself to on the journey, which, +indeed, was immense for so short a time, because I kept seven open +tables, and spent 800 crowns a day. + +When I returned to Paris I was received with incredible applause. The +King also came thither on the 21st of October, and was welcomed by the +acclamations of the people. The Queen received me with wonderful +respect, and bade the King embrace me, as one to whom he chiefly owed his +return to Paris; but orders were sent to the Duc d'Orleans to retire next +morning to Limours. + +When I went to see him, he was panic-struck, and imagined it was only a +feint to try his temper. He was in an inconceivable agony, and fancied +that every musket which was let off by way of rejoicing for his Majesty's +return was fired by the soldiers coming to invest his palace. Every +messenger that he sent out brought him word that all was quiet, but he +would believe nobody, and looked continually out of the window to hear if +the drums were beating the march. At last he took courage to ask me if I +was firm to him, and after I had assured him of my fidelity he desired +that, as a proof of my attachment and affection for him, I would be +reconciled to M. de Beaufort. "With all my heart," said I. Whereupon he +embraced me, then opened the gallery door by his bedchamber, and out came +M. de Beaufort, who threw himself about my neck, and said, "Pray ask his +Royal Highness what I have been saying to him concerning you. I know who +are honest men. Come on, monsieur, let us drive all the Mazarins away +for good and all." He endeavoured to show both the necessity and the +possibility of it, and advised the raising of barricades next morning, by +break of day, in the market-places. + +The Duc d'Orleans turned to me and said, as they do in Parliament, "Your +opinion, M. Dean." I replied: "If I must give it as Dean, there never +was more occasion for the forty hours' prayers than now. I myself stand +in need of them more than anybody, because I can give no advice but what +must appear very cruel and be attended with horrid inconveniences. If I +should advise you to put up with the injurious treatment you undergo, +will not the public, who always make the worst of everything, have a +handle to say I betray your interest, and that my advice was but a +necessary consequence of all those obstacles I threw in the Princes' way? +And if I give it as my opinion that your Royal Highness should follow the +measures which M. de Beaufort proposes, shall I not be accounted one who +blows hot and cold in a breath?--who is for peace when he thinks to gain +his advantages by the treaty, but for war when he is not permitted to +negotiate?--one who is for destroying Paris with fire and sword, and for +carrying the flames to the gates of the Louvre by attacking the very +person of the King? If you obey, you will be responsible to the public +for all it may suffer afterwards. I am no competent judge of what it may +suffer in particular; for who can foresee events depending on the +caprices of a cardinal, on the stormings of Ondedei, the impertinence of +the Abbe Fouquet, and the violence of Servien? But you will have to +answer for all, because the public will be persuaded that you might have +prevented it. If you do not obey, you may go near to overturn the +realm." + +Here the Duke interrupted me eagerly, and said, "This is not to the +purpose; the question is whether I am in a condition, that is, if it is +in my power, to disobey." + +"I believe so," I said; "for I do not see how the Court can oblige you to +obey, unless the King himself should march to Luxembourg, which would be +a matter of great importance." + +"Nay," said M. de Beaufort, "it would be impossible." + +I then perceived that the Duke began to think so too, for it fitted his +humour, as he could not endure taking any pains, and, upon this +supposition, resolved to stay at home with his arms folded. I said: + +"You are able to do anything to-night and tomorrow morning, but I cannot +answer how it may be in the evening." + +M. de Beaufort, who thought that I was going to argue for the offensive, +fell in roundly with me to second me; but I stopped him short by telling +him he mistook my meaning. + +"I shall never presume," said I, "to give advice in the condition things +are now in. The Duke himself must decide, and even propose, too, and it +is our business to perform his commands." + +Then he said, "If I should resolve to brave it out, will you declare for +me?" + +"Yes," I said, "it is what I ought in duty to do. I am attached to your +service, in which I shall certainly not be wanting, and you need only to +command me. But I am very much grieved that, considering the present +state of affairs, an honest man cannot act the honest part, do what he +may." + +The Duke, who was by nature good, but not very tender, could not help +being moved at what I said; the tears came into his eyes, he embraced me, +and asked me if I thought he could secure the King's person. I told him +that nothing was more impossible. I found at length that he was inclined +to obey, but he bade us keep our friends together in readiness, and to be +with him at break of day. However, he set out for Limours an hour sooner +than he had told us, and left word that he had his reasons for so doing, +which we should know another day, advising us, if possible, to make our +peace with the Court. + +On the 22d the King held his Bed of Justice, at the Louvre, where he +published the amnesty, as also an order for reestablishing the Parliament +at Paris, in which there was a clause forbidding them to meddle with +State affairs. At the same time he caused a declaration to be published +ordering MM. de Beaufort, Rohan, Viole, de Thou, Broussel, Portail, +Bitaud, Croissi, Machaut, Fleury, Martineau, and Perraut to depart the +city. + +The Court now began to offer me terms of reconciliation. I was desirous +that as many of my friends as possible should be included; but Caumartin, +who was in the secret of affairs, told me there were no hopes of +procuring any advantages for particular persons; that all that could be +done was to save the ship for another voyage, and that this ship, which +was myself, could be saved in no other way, in the condition into which +our affairs were fallen by the Duc d'Orleans's want of resolution, but by +launching out into the main, and steering towards Rome. "You stand," +said he, "as it were, on the point of a needle, and if the Court knew +their strength they would rout you as they do the rest; your courage +gives you an air that both deceives and disquiets them. Make use of the +present opportunity for obtaining what may be serviceable to you in your +employ at Rome, for the Court will deny you nothing." + +Montresor, hearing of it, said to me afterwards, with an oath, "He is a +villain who says your Eminence can make your peace honourably without +making terms for your friends; he who affirms the contrary does it for +his own private ends." Therefore I refused the offers made me by +Servien, which were that the King would resign his affairs in Italy to my +care, and allow me a pension of 50,000 crowns; that I should have 100,000 +crowns towards paying off my debts, and 50,000 in hand towards furniture; +that I should continue three years at Rome, and then return to resume my +functions at Paris. + +The Princess Palatine told me I ought either to accept or else treat with +the Cardinal, since all the subalterns were against me. Madame de +Lesdiguieres advised me to preserve my equanimity and keep within doors, +adding that the Cardinal, who was impatient to return to Paris, but durst +not as long as I stayed, would make me a bridge of gold to go out and +agree to whatever I demanded. Accordingly, I sent my proposals to the +Cardinal, who was then lurking in Turenne's army upon the frontiers, and +desired such and such posts for my friends. Meantime Servien and the +Abbe Fouquet endeavoured to exasperate the Queen by telling her that I +was continually caballing with the annuitants and officers of the +militia; and because I refused to go to Parliament, in obedience to the +King's orders, when he held his Court of Justice there to register the +declaration of high treason against the Prince de Conde, the Queen was +made to believe that I was intriguing for the Prince, and therefore +resolved to ruin me, cost what it would. One officer posted men in a +house near Madame de Pommereux's, to attack me; another was employed to +get intelligence at what time of night I was in the habit of visiting +her; a third had an order, signed by the King, to attack me in the street +and bring me off dead or alive. An unknown person advised me not to go +that day to Rambouillet; but I went with two hundred gentlemen, and found +a great many officers of the Guards, who, whatever were their orders, +were in no condition to attack me, and received me with reverence; but I +blamed myself for it afterwards, because it only tended to incense the +Court the more against me. + +Upon All Saints' Day I preached at Saint Germain, which is the King's +parish, where their Majesties did me the honour to be present, for which +I went next day to return them thanks; but finding that the cautions sent +me from all quarters multiplied very fast, I did not go to the Louvre +till the 19th of December, when I was arrested in the Queen's antechamber +by the captain of the Guards then in waiting, who carried me into an +apartment where the officers of the kitchen brought me dinner, of which I +ate heartily, to the mortification of the base courtiers, though I did +not take it kindly to see my pockets turned inside out as if I had been a +cutpurse. This ceremony, which is not common, was performed by the +captain; but he found nothing except a letter from the King of England, +desiring me to try if the Court of Rome would assist him with money. When +this letter came to be talked of, it was maliciously reported that it +came from the Protector. I was carried in one of the King's coaches, +under guard, to Vincennes. As we passed we found at several of the gates +a battalion of Swiss with their pikes presented towards the city, where +everybody was quiet, though their sorrow and consternation were visible +enough. I was afterwards informed, however, that all the butchers in the +veal market were going to take up arms, and that they might have made +barricades there with all the ease in the world, only they were +restrained for fear that I should have paid for their tumult with the +loss of my life; so that the women remained in tears, and the men stood +stock-still in a fright. I was confined at Vincennes for a fortnight +together, in a room as big as a church, without any firing. My guards +pilfered my linen, apparel, shoes, etc., so that sometimes I was forced +to lie in bed for a week or ten days together for want of clothes to +dress myself. I could not but think that such treatment had been ordered +by the higher powers on purpose to break my heart; but I resolved not to +die that way, and though my guard said all he could to vex me, I affected +to take no notice. + +The influence of the clergy of Paris obliged the Court to explain itself +concerning the causes of my imprisonment, by the mouth of the Chancellor, +who, in the presence of the King and Queen, acquainted them that his +Majesty had caused me to be arrested for my own good, and to prevent me +from putting something that I designed into execution. The chapter of +Notre-Dame had an anthem sung every day for my deliverance. The Sorbonne +and many of the a religious orders distinguished themselves by declaring +for me. This general stir obliged the Court to treat me somewhat better +than at first. They let me have a limited number of books, but no ink +and paper, and they allowed me a 'valet de chambre' and a physician. + +During my confinement at Vincennes, which lasted fifteen months, I +studied both day and night, especially the Latin tongue, on which I +perceive one cannot bestow too much pains, since it takes in all other +studies. I dived into the Greek also, and read again the ninth decade of +Livy, which I had formerly delighted in, and found as pleasant as ever. I +composed, in imitation of Boetius, a treatise, which I entitled +"Consolation de la Theologie," in which I proved that every prisoner +ought to endeavour to be 'vinctus in Christo' (in the bonds of Christ), +mentioned by Saint Paul. I also compiled "Partus Vincennarum," which was +a collection of the Acts of the Church of Milan for the use of the Church +of Paris. + +My guard omitted nothing he could invent to make my life uneasy and +disturb my studies. One day he came and told me that he had received +orders from the King to give me an airing on the top of the donjon; and +when he perceived that I took a pleasure in walking there, he informed +me, with joy in his looks, that he had orders to the contrary. I told +him that they were come in good time, for the air, which was too sharp +there, had made my head ache. Afterwards he offered to take me down into +the tennis-court to see my guards at play. I desired him to excuse me, +because I thought the air would be too piercing for me; but he made me +go, telling me that the King, who took more care of my health than I +fancied, had ordered that he should give me some exercise. Soon after he +desired me to excuse him for not bringing me down again, "for reasons," +said he, "which I must not tell." The truth was, I was so much above +these chicaneries that I despised them; but I must own that I used to +think within myself that, in the main, to be a prisoner of State was of +all others the most afflicting. All the relaxation I had from my studies +was to divert myself with some rabbits on the top of the donjon, and some +pigeons in the turrets, for which I was indebted to the continual +solicitations of the Church of Paris. I had not been a prisoner above +nine days when one of my guards, while his comrade who watched me was +asleep, came and slipped a note into my hand from Madame de Pommereux, in +which were only these words: "Let me have your answer; you may safely +trust the bearer." The bearer gave me a pencil and a piece of paper, on +which I wrote that I had received her letter. + +Notwithstanding that three sergeants and twenty-four Life-guards relieved +one another every day, our correspondence was not interrupted. Madame de +Pommereux, M. de Caumartin, and M. de Raqueville wrote me letters twice a +week constantly about the means to effect my escape, which I attempted +twice, but in vain. + +The Abbe Charier, who set out for Rome the day after I was arrested, +found Pope Innocent incensed to the highest degree, and ready to throw +his thunder upon the heads of the authors of it. He spoke of it to the +French Ambassador with great resentment, and sent the Archbishop of +Avignon, with the title of Nuncio Extraordinary, on purpose to solicit my +release. The King was in a fury, and forebade the Nuncio to pass Lyons. +The Pope told the Abbe Charier that he was afraid to expose his and the +Church's authority to the fury of a madman, and said, "Give me but an +army, and I will furnish you with a legate." It was a difficult matter +indeed to get him that army, but not impossible, if those that should +have stood my friends had not left me in the lurch. + +In the meantime Noirmoutier and Bussi Lamet wrote a letter to Mazarin, +declaring they could not help proceeding to extremities if I were +detained any longer in prison. The Prince de Conde declared he would do +anything, without exception, which my friends desired, for my liberty, +and offered to march all the Spanish forces to their assistance; but the +misfortune was that there was nobody to form the proper schemes; and +Noirmoutier, who was the most enterprising man of them all, was hindered +from action by Madame de Chevreuse and De Laigues, who, the Cardinal +said, would be accountable for the actions of their friends, and that if +they fired one pistol-shot they must expect what would follow. Therefore +Noirmoutier was glad to elude all the propositions of the Prince de +Conde, and to be content with only writing and speaking in my favour, and +firing the cannon at the drinking of my health. + +M. de Pradello, who commanded the French and Swiss Guards in the castle, +came one day to tell me of the happy return of Cardinal Mazarin to Paris, +and of his magnificent reception at the Hotel de Ville; and he informed +me that the Cardinal had sent him to assure me of his most humble +services, and to beg of me to be persuaded that he would forget nothing +that might be for my service. I made as if I did not heed the +compliment, and was for talking of something else; but as he pressed me +for a direct answer, I told him that I should have been ready at the +first word to show him my acknowledgments were I not persuaded that the +duty of a prisoner to the King did not permit him to explain himself in +anything relating to his release, till his Majesty had been graciously +pleased to grant it him. He understood my meaning, and endeavoured to +persuade me to return a more civil answer to the Cardinal, which I +declined to do. + +The Cardinal was so pestered with complaints from Rome, and so disturbed +with the discontent which prevailed in Poitou and Paris, on account of my +imprisonment, that he sent me an offer of my liberty and great +advantages, on condition that I would resign the coadjutorship of Paris. + +The solicitations of the chapter of Notre-Dame prevailed on the Court to +consent that one of their body might be always with me, who, though he +came gladly for my sake, fell into a deep melancholy. He could not, +however, be prevailed upon to go out; and being soon after seized with a +fever, he cut his own throat. My uncle dying soon after, possession was +taken of the archbishopric in my name by my proxy, and Tellier, who was +sent to Notre-Dame Church to oppose it on the part of the King, was +mortified with the thunder of my bulls from Rome. The people were +surprised to see all the formalities observed to a nicety, at a juncture +when they thought there was no possibility of observing one. The cures +waxed warmer than ever, and my friends fanned the flame. The Nuncio, +thinking himself slighted by the Court, spoke in dignified terms, and +threatened his censures. A little book was published, showing the +necessity of shutting up the churches, which aroused the Cardinal's +apprehensions, and his apprehensions naturally led him into negotiation. +He amused me with hundreds of fine prospects of church livings, +governments, etc., and of being restored to the good graces of the King +and to the strictest friendship with his Prime Minister. + +I had more liberty than before. They always carried me up to the top of +the donjon whenever it was fair overhead; but my friends, who did not +doubt that all the Court wanted was to get some expression from me of my +inclination to resign, in order to discredit me with the public, charged +me to guard warily my words, which advice I followed; so that when a +captain of the Guards came from the King to discourse with me upon this +head, who, by Mazarin's direction, talked to me more like a captain of +the Janissaries than like an officer of the most Christian King, I +desired leave to give him my answer in writing, expressing my contempt +for all threats and promises, and an inviolable resolution not to give up +the archbishopric of Paris. + +Next day President Bellievre came to me on the part of the King, with an +offer of seven abbeys, provided I would quit my archbishopric; but he +opened his mind to me with entire freedom, and said he could not but +think what a fool the Sicilian was to send him on such an errand. "Most +of your friends," said Bellievre, "think that you need only to stand out +resolutely, and that the Court will be glad to set you at liberty and +send you to Rome; but it is a horrid mistake, for the Court will be +satisfied with nothing but your resignation. When I say the Court, I +mean Mazarin; for the Queen will not bear the thought of giving you your +liberty. The chief thing that determines Mazarin to think of your +liberty is his fear of the Nuncio, the chapter, the cures, and the +people. But I dare affirm that the Nuncio will threaten mightily, but do +nothing; the chapter may perhaps make remonstrances, but to no purpose; +the cures will preach, and that is all; the people will clamour, but take +up no arms. The consequence will be your removal to Brest or +Havre-de-Grace, and leaving you in the hands of your enemies, who will +use you as they please. I know that Mazarin is not bloodthirsty, but I +tremble to think of what Noailles has told you, that they are resolved to +make haste and take such methods as other States have furnished examples +of. You may, perhaps, infer from my remarks that I would have you +resign. By no means. I have come to tell you that if you resign you +will do a dishonourable thing, and that it behooves you on this occasion +to answer the great expectation the world is now in on your account, even +to the hazarding of your life, and of your liberty, which I am persuaded +you value more than life itself. Now is the time for you to put forward +more than ever those maxims for which we have so much combated you: 'I +dread no poison nor sword! Nothing can hurt me but what is within me! +It matters not where one dies!' Thus you ought to answer those who speak +to you about your resignation." + +I was carried from Vincennes, under guard, to Nantes, where I had +numerous visits and diversions, and was entertained with a comedy almost +every night, and the company of the ladies, particularly the charming +Mademoiselle de La Vergne, who in good truth did not approve of me, +either because she had no inclination for me, or else because her friends +had set her against me by telling her of my inconstancy and different +amours. I endured her cruelty with my natural indifference, and the full +liberty Marechal de La Meilleraye allowed me with the city ladies gave me +abundance of comfort; nevertheless I was kept under a very strict guard. +As I had stipulated with Mazarin that I should have my liberty on +condition that I would resign my archbishopric at Vincennes, which I knew +would not be valid, I was surprised to hear that the Pope refused to +ratify it; because, though it would not have made my resignation a jot +more binding, yet it would have procured my liberty. I proposed +expedients to the Holy See by which the Court might do it with honour, +but the Pope was inflexible. He thought it would damage his reputation +to consent to a violence so injurious to the whole Church, and said to my +friends, who begged his consent with tears in their eyes, that he could +never consent to a resignation extorted from a prisoner by force. + +After several consultations with my friends how to make my escape, I +effected it on August the 8th, at five o'clock in the evening. I let +myself down to the bottom of the bastion, which was forty feet high, with +a rope, while my valet de chambre treated the guards with as much liquor +as they could drink. Their attention, was, moreover, taken up with +looking at a Jacobin friar who happened to be drowned as he was bathing. +A sentinel, seeing me, was taking up his musket to fire, but dropped it +upon my threatening to have him hanged; and he said, upon examination, +that he believed Marechal de La Meilleraye was in concert with me. Two +pages who were washing themselves, saw me also, and called out, but were +not heard. My four gentlemen waited for me at the bottom of the ravelin, +on pretence of watering their horses, so that I was on horseback before +the least notice was taken; and, having forty fresh horses planted on the +road, I might have reached Paris very soon if my horse had not fallen and +caused me to break my shoulder bone, the pain of which was so extreme +that I nearly fainted several times. Not being able to continue my +journey, I was lodged, with only one of my gentlemen, in a great +haystack, while MM. de Brissac and Joly went straight to Beaupreau, to +assemble the nobility, there, in order to rescue me. I lay hid there for +over seven hours in inexpressible misery, for the pain from my injury +threw me into a fever, during which my thirst was much augmented by the +smell of the new hay; but, though we were by a riverside, we durst not +venture out for water, because there was nobody to put the stack in order +again, which would very probably have occasioned suspicion and a search +in consequence. We heard nothing but horsemen riding by, who, we were +afterwards informed, were Marechal de La Meilleraye's scouts. About two +o'clock in the morning I was fetched out of the stack by a Parisian of +quality sent by my friend De Brissac, and carried on a hand-barrow to a +barn, where I was again buried alive, as it were, in hay for seven or +eight hours, when M. de Brisac and his lady came, with fifteen or twenty +horse, and carried me to Beaupreau. From thence we proceeded, almost in +eight of Nantes, to Machecoul, in the country of Retz, after having had +an encounter with some of Marechal de La Meilleraye's guards, when we +repulsed them to the very barrier. + +Marechal de La Meilleraye was so amazed at my escape that he threatened +to destroy the whole country with fire and sword, for which reason I was +an unwelcome guest to Madame de Retz and her father, who rallied me very +uncharitably on my disobedience to the King. We therefore thought fit to +leave the country, and went aboard a ship for Belle Isle, whence, after a +very short stay there, we escaped to San Sebastian. + +Upon my arrival there I sent a letter to the King of Spain requesting +leave to pass through his dominions to Rome. The messenger was received +at Court with civilities beyond expression, and sent back next day with +the present of a gold chain worth 800 crowns. I had also one of the +King's litters sent me, and an invitation to go to Madrid, but I desired +to be excused; and though I also refused immense offers if I would but go +to Flanders and treat with the Prince de Conde, etc., for the service of +Spain, yet I had a velvet coffer sent me with 40,000 crowns in it, which +I likewise thought fit to refuse. As I had neither linen nor apparel, +either for myself or servants, and as the 400 crowns which we got by the +sale of pilchards on board the barque in which we came from Belle Isle +were almost all spent, I borrowed 400 crowns of the Baron de Vateville, +who commanded for the King of Spain in Guipuzcoa, and faithfully repaid +him. + +From San Sebastian I travelled incognito to Tudela, where I was met by +the King's mule drivers and waited on by the alcade, who left his wand at +my chamber door and at his, entrance knelt and kissed the hem of my +garment. From thence I was conducted to Comes by fifty musketeers riding +upon asses, who were sent me by the Governor of Navarre. At Saragossa I +was taken for the King of England, and a large number of ladies, in over +two hundred carriages, came to pay me their respects. Thence I proceeded +to Vivaros, where I had rich presents from the Governor of Valencia. And +thence I sailed to Majorca, whose Governor met me with above one hundred +coaches of the Spanish nobility, and carried me to mass at the Cathedral, +where I saw thirty or forty ladies of quality of more than common charms; +and, to speak the truth, the women there in general are of rare beauty, +having a graceful tincture both of the lily and the rose, and wear a +head-dress which is exceedingly pretty. The Governor, after having +treated me with a magnificent dinner under a tent of gold brocade near +the seaside, carried me to a concert of music in a convent, where I found +the nuns not inferior in beauty to the ladies of the town. The Governor +carried me to see his lady, who was as ugly as a witch, and was seated +under a great canopy sparkling with precious stones, which gave a +wonderful lustre to about sixty ladies with her, who were the handsomest +in the whole town. I was reconducted on board my galley with music and a +discharge of the artillery, and sailed to Port Mahon, and thence through +the Gulf of Lyons to the canal between Corsica and Sardinia, where our +ship was very nearly cast away upon a sandbank; but with great difficulty +we got her off and reached Porto Longone. There we quitted the galley, +and went by land to Piombino. + + + + +BOOK V. + + +I travelled from Piombino to Florence, where I had great honours and vast +offers from the Grand Duke, though Mazarin had threatened him, in the +King's name, with a rupture if he granted me passage through his +dominions; but the Grand Duke sent to desire the Cardinal to let him know +whether there was any possibility of refusing it without disobliging the +Pope and the Sacred College. As I was travelling through the Duke's +country, my mules, being frightened by a clap of thunder, ran with my +litter into a brook, where I narrowly escaped being drowned. + +As soon as I arrived at Rome the Pope sent me 4,000 crowns in gold. I +was immediately informed that a strong faction was formed there against +me by the Court of France; that the Cardinal d'Est, representative of +that nation, had terrible orders from the King; and that they were +resolved to send me packing from Rome, cost what it would. I had my old +scruples upon me, and said I would die a thousand deaths rather than make +resistance; but I thought it would be too disrespectful in a cardinal to +come so near the Pope and to go away without kissing his feet, and I +resolved to leave the rest to the providence of God. + +The Pope having ordered his guards to be ready, in case the French +faction should offer to rise, the Cardinal d'Est was so good as to let me +alone. His Holiness gave me an audience of four hours, condescended to +beg my forgiveness for not having acted with more vigour for my liberty; +and said, with tears in his eyes: "God forgive those who delayed to give +me timely notice of your imprisonment, and who made us believe that you +had been guilty, of an attempt upon the King's person. The Sacred +College took fire at the news; but the French Ambassador being at +liberty, to give out what he chose, because nobody, appeared here on your +part to contradict him, Mazarin extinguished it, and half the Sacred +College thought you were abandoned by the whole kingdom." In short, the +Pope was so well disposed to me that he thought of adopting me as his +nephew, but he sickened soon after and died. + +The conclave chose Cardinal Chigi (who was called Alexander VIII.) for +his successor, in whose election I had such a share that when it came to +my turn, at the adoration of the cardinals, to kiss his feet, he embraced +me, saying, "Signor Cardinal de Retz, 'ecce opus manuum tuarum'" ("Behold +the work of your own hands"). I went home accompanied with one hundred +and twenty coaches of gentlemen, who did not doubt that I should govern +the Pontificate. + +My friends in France, who commonly judge of other nations by their own, +imagined that a persecuted cardinal might, nay, ought to live like a +private man even at Rome, and advised me not to spend much money, because +my revenues in France were all seized, and said that such exemplary +modesty would have an admirable effect upon the clergy of Paris. But +Cardinal Chigi talked after another manner: "When you are reestablished +in your see you may live as you please, because you will be in a country +where everybody will know what you are or are not able to do. You are +now at Rome, where your enemies say every day that you have lost your +credit in France, and you are under a necessity to make it appear that +what they say is false. You are not a hermit, but a cardinal, and a +cardinal, too, of the better rank. At Rome there are many people who +love to tread upon men when they are down. Dear sir, take care you do +not fall, and do but consider what a figure you will make in the streets +with six vergers attending you; otherwise every pitiful citizen of Paris +that meets you will be apt to jostle you, in order to make his court to +the Cardinal d'Est. You ought not to have come to Rome if you had not +had resolution and the means to support your dignity. I presume you do +not make it a point of Christian humility to debase yourself. And let me +tell you that I, the poor Cardinal Chigi, who have but 5,000 crowns +revenue, and am one of the poorest in the College, and though I am sure +to meet nobody in the streets who will be wanting in the respect due to +the purple, yet I cannot go to my functions without four coaches in +livery to attend me." + +Therefore I hired a palace, kept a great table, and entertained fourscore +persons in liveries. The Cardinal d'Est, the very day after the creation +of the new Pope, forbade all Frenchmen to give me the way in the streets, +and charged the superiors of the French churches not to admit me. M. de +Lionne, who resided here as a sort of private secretary to Mazarin, was +so nettled because the new Pope had granted me the pallium for my +archbishopric that he told him the King would never own me, insinuated +that there would be a schism among the clergy of France, and that the +Pope must expect to be excluded from the congress for a general peace. +This so frightened his Holiness that he made a million of mean excuses, +and said, with tears in his eyes, that I had imposed upon him, and that +he would take the first opportunity to do the King justice. Upon this M. +de Lionne sent word to the Cardinal that he hoped very shortly to +acquaint him of my being prisoner in the Castle of Saint Angelo, and that +the Cardinal would be no better off for his Majesty's amnesty, because +the Pope said none but he could absolve or condemn cardinals. Meantime +all my domestics who were subjects of the King of France were ordered to +quit my service, on pain of being treated as rebels and traitors. I +could have little hope of protection from the Pope, for he was become +quite another man, never spoke one word of truth, and continually amused +himself with mere trifles, insomuch that one day he proposed a reward for +whoever found out a Latin word for "calash," and spent seven or eight +days in examining whether "mosco" came from "muses," or "musts" from +"mosco." All his piety consisted in assuming a serious air at church, in +which, nevertheless, there was a great mixture of pride, for he was vain +to the last degree, and envious of everybody. The work entitled +"Sindicato di Alexandro VII." gives an account of his luxury and of +several pasquinades against the said Pope, particularly that one day +Marforio asking Pasquin what he had said to the cardinals upon his +death-bed, Pasquin answered, "Maxima de aeipso, plurima de parentibus, +parva de principibus, turpia de cardinalibus, pauca de Ecclesia, de Deo +nihil." ("He said fine things of himself, a great many things of his +kindred, some things of princes, nothing good of the cardinals, but +little of the Church, and nothing at all of God"). His Holiness, in a +consistory, laid claim to the merit of the conversion of Christina, Queen +of Sweden, though everybody knew to the contrary, and that she had +abjured heresy a year and a half before she came to Rome. + +Having heard that Bussiere, who is Chamberlain to the Ambassadors at +Rome, had declared I should not have a place in Saint Louis's church on +the festival of that saint, I was not discouraged from going thither. At +my entrance he snatched the holy water stick from the cure just as he was +going to sprinkle me; nevertheless, I took my place, and was resolved to +keep up the status and dignity of a French cardinal. This was my +condition at Rome, where it was my fate to be a refugee, persecuted by my +King and abused by the Pope. All my revenues were seized, and the French +bankers forbidden to serve me; nay, those who had an inclination to +assist me were forced to promise they would not. Two of the Abbe +Fouquet's bastards were publicly maintained out of my revenues, and no +means were left untried to hinder the farmers from relieving me, or my +creditors from harassing me with vexatious and expensive lawsuits. + + + + + +THE ETEXT EDITORS BOOKMARKS + + +Always judged of actions by men, and never men by their actions +Always to sacrifice the little affairs to the greater +Arms which are not tempered by laws quickly become anarchy +Associating patience with activity +Assurrance often supplies the room of good sense +Blindness that make authority to consist only in force +Bounty, which, though very often secret, had the louder echo +Buckingham had been in love with three Queens +By the means of a hundred pistoles down, and vast promises +Civil war as not powerful enough to conclude a peace +Civil war is one of those complicated diseases +Clergy always great examples of slavish servitude +Confounded the most weighty with the most trifling +Contempt--the most dangerous disease of any State +Dangerous to refuse presents from one's superiors +Distinguished between bad and worse, good and better +Fading flowers, which are fragrant to-day and offensive tomorrow +False glory and false modesty +Fool in adversity and a knave in prosperity +Fools yield only when they cannot help it +Good news should be employed in providing against bad +He weighed everything, but fixed on nothing +He knew how to put a good gloss upon his failings +He had not a long view of what was beyond his reach +Help to blind the rest of mankind, and they even become blinder +His ideas were infinitely above his capacity +His wit was far inferior to his courage +Impossible for her to live without being in love with somebody +Inconvenience of popularity +Insinuation is of more service than that of persuasion +Is there a greater in the world than heading a party? +Kinds of fear only to be removed by higher degrees of terror +Laws without the protection of arms sink into contempt +Man that supposed everybody had a back door +Maxims showed not great regard for virtue +Mazarin: embezzling some nine millions of the public money +Men of irresolution are apt to catch at all overtures +More ambitious than was consistent with morality +My utmost to save other souls, though I took no care of my own +Need of caution in what we say to our friends +Neither capable of governing nor being governed +Never had woman more contempt for scruples and ceremonies +Nothing is so subject to delusion as piety +Oftener deceived by distrusting than by being overcredulous +One piece of bad news seldom comes singly +Only way to acquire them is to show that we do not value them +Passed for the author of events of which I was only the prophet +Poverty so well became him +Power commonly keeps above ridicule +Pretended to a great deal more wit than came to his share +Queen was adored much more for her troubles than for her merit +She had nothing but beauty, which cloys when it comes alone +So indiscreet as to boast of his successful amours +Strongest may safely promise to the weaker what he thinks fit +The subdivision of parties is generally the ruin of all +The wisest fool he ever saw in his life +Those who carry more sail than ballast +Thought he always stood in need of apologies +Transitory honour is mere smoke +Treated him as she did her petticoat +Useful man in a faction because of his wonderful complacency +Vanity to love to be esteemed the first author of things +Verily believed he was really the man which he affected to be +Virtue for a man to confess a fault than not to commit one +We are far more moved at the hearing of old stories +Weakening and changing the laws of the land +Who imagine the head of a party to be their master +Whose vivacity supplied the want of judgment +Wisdom in affairs of moment is nothing without courage +With a design to do good, he did evil +Yet he gave more than he promised +You must know that, with us Princes, words go for nothing + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, +Complete, by Jean Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CARDINAL DE RETZ *** + +***** This file should be named 3846.txt or 3846.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/4/3846/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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